A Singular Partnership
by Cocami.Kurai
Summary: A hunter/vampire agreement has forced Zero and Kaname into partnership. But during their missions to discover the culprit behind the Level E attacks, Zero undergoes a change that will alter the fate of the vampire world.   KxZ Rated M for upcoming chaps
1. The Partnership

**A/N: **This is just a story idea I came up with and wrote last night, so I'm sorry it's so short. I'm not sure whether or not I will continue it—it depends on the response I get. I'm also not exactly sure where it will go (I have a _general_ idea—nothing too definite, though) but what I do know is that it will absolutely and positively include KaZe yaoi good-ness, so just be prepared. Also, Zero discovers that he is really a pureblood, but _shhh!_ don't tell Zero yet. ;)

**World: **First of all, forget Yuuki. She's annoying, so I've written her out of the story. She's not a pureblood—or even a vampire, for that matter—and Kaname doesn't really notice her at all. His entire reason for being at cross academy is peace between vampires and humans, nothing more. Also, the starting point of the story is almost a year after the Shizuka incident (SI), and it is now summer. I have also changed the way things turned out from the SI. Shizuka came to Cross Academy to take Zero as her slave and to kill Kaname, both so she could gain power over Rido (he was the reason her old fiancée's name was on the hunters' kill-list) and kill him. However, eventually Rido finds out and kills her (instead of Kaname killing her, like what happened in the manga/anime). Rido doesn't kill her until after she tries to take Zero as her slave, however, and Zero fights back. During the fight, Shizuka escapes Zero (only to be killed later by Rido, of course) and Ichiru starts to fight Zero in her stead. Zero and Ichiru are evenly matched, though, and wind up mortally wounding each other. Then, at the last minute, Ichiru has an unexplained change of heart and forces Zero to drink his blood, saving Zero but sealing Ichiru's death (but this part is explained later in the story).

**Disclaimer: **Personally, I think these are stupid, because I obviously don't own Vampire Knight, but here goes: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters. All rights belong to the author of Vampire Knights, Matsuri Hino.

If you have any questions about the story or the world, if you find misspellings/grammatical errors, or if you have any suggestions, please feel free to PM me or to leave them in the comments.

Read, review and hopefully enjoy! ^_^

o0o0o0o

_Fated twins—the seed of sins—have now become one, the spell half-undone. When tainted blood at last is purged, the missing eighth will have emerged._

The fog that had previously obscured everything from view suddenly parted. A figure began to approach. As she got closer—for it was apparent now that it was a 'she'—her features became more defined. Long, shimmering silver locks drifted behind her, framing her tranquil and beautiful features. She was wearing a simple, flowing white dress that blended in with her equally pale skin. She was tall with a surprisingly petite frame, and what little substance she had was mostly lean, sinewy muscle. However, her most remarkable feature was her clear, all-knowing lilac eyes. She exuded a calm and reassuring aura.

But suddenly that aura was shattered as she flew from the ground in a flash of light and remained there, suspended in mid-air and radiating pure power. Her irises glowed crimson and a single whispered word escaped from her lips: "Zero."

o0o0o0o

Zero's eyes flew open and his head shot up from the pillow, his body shaking and drenched in a cold sweat. When he calmed down enough to regain his senses, he cursed his idiocy. How could he have let that dream disturb yet another night of much-needed rest? He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but his brain just wouldn't cooperate, still focused on the dream. When had he first had it? Ah, that was right—almost a year ago, that terrible, fateful night he had killed his brother.

It was so strange, and he pondered it even to this day—why had Ichiru saved him? It simply didn't make sense, considering his twin's deep-rooted (even if it _was_ misplaced) hatred for him. Although it pained him to no end, Zero didn't really believe that he would ever know what had changed in Ichiru's brain that night. One moment they had been fighting, guns in one hand and blades in the other, and the next moment they were both helpless bleeding heaps on the floor, nearing their untimely deaths. And then there Ichiru was next to him, forcing Zero to bite him and take his blood, saving Zero but dooming himself…

Zero shuddered at the pain of that memory, squeezing his eyes in vain in an effort to block out the horror. Yes, that had been the night the dream had begun. At first, he had the dream once or twice every month. But lately, the dream had been becoming more and more frequent, until now, when there was scarcely a night that went by uninterrupted by the interloper. The lack of sleep—coupled with his duties as a hunter—was beginning to take a serious toll on him—physically and mentally—and both Cross and Yuuki, the worrywarts they were, made sure to point it out to him on a daily basis.

He had just begun to doze off, when he heard a sharp rapping at his door.

"Zero?" called a voice so soft that Zero knew it could only belong one person.

"Yuuki," Zero replied, making sure to express every ounce of his displeasure at the disturbance.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" she exclaimed, her smile apparent in her tone. "I just came to tell you good-bye, in case I don't see you again before I go. I'll be leaving for my vacation with Yori-chan, and we won't be back for a while. Also, I wanted to tell you that you should probably get up soon, or you might miss the meeting." she finished, already skipping off down the hallway.

Zero groaned and rolled out of bed, heading towards the bathroom to take a shower. He'd forgotten about the meeting—the _damned_ meeting where he was going to have to sit for three hours and look at that _arrogant_ pureblood's _stupid_ face. It made his blood boil, just watching the vampire and his flawlessly composed demeanor. Granted, most vampires—Zero himself included— weren't known to be too expressive, but there was just something about the pureblood that caused Zero to lose his cool, never failing to bug the hell out of him. He shuddered as he imagined the pureblood's sadistic delight if he ever discovered how much he got to Zero. Oh god— Zero would rather die than have him find out.

o0o0o0o

Zero gave a quiet growl of annoyance. The meeting between the Vampire Council and the Hunters' Association had been going on for almost ten minutes, yet the only thing anyone had accomplished thus far was to stare blankly at the individual across from them. Thankfully, Zero's individual was not the pureblood, but rather a comfortable-looking Takuma, who was too busy throwing companionable smiles around the room to pay much mind to Zero, which Zero didn't mind one bit.

For lack of anything better to do, Zero glanced around and admired the room. He had a begrudging respect for vampires' sense of style and architecture. After all, the entire building had been designed by the vampires, as a part of the compromise, since the hunters had chosen the location.

The room had a high vault ceiling, and was very large, as it had to accommodate not only the Council but the Association as well. The room was decorated in a warm, velvety tone of red, with dark accents of walnut wood scattered about. The theme seemed to be Victorian, but with an odd though refreshing touch of modernity. In the center of the room was a gigantic U-shaped wooden table. The hunters were seated at the right and the vampires on the left, so that the heads of each organization sat beside each other. This meant that Touga Yagari, who had attended in Cross's stead, was seated right next to the man who was sitting in for Asato Ichijou, Kaname Kuran. To Kaname's right sat Takuma, and to Takuma's right sat Shiki. The rest of the Night Class was scattered throughout the line of seated vampires, but Zero didn't really care enough to look for them. Conversely, he sat to the left of Yagari, and to his left was Kaito. There were, of course, more hunters seated to the left of Kaito, but Zero only knew but a few of them, and he couldn't remember the names of the few that he did know.

Zero was snapped from his thoughts as he heard a chair being pushed backwards. The previously confused silence was now one of reverence, as the chair had been the pureblood's. Annoyingly enough, not only did the entire _vampire_ population worship Kaname—a great number of the non-anti-vampire hunters did, as well. All ears were trained as he began to speak.

"The eleventh meeting of the Hunters' Association and the Vampire Council has commenced. We have gathered here the finest each organization has to offer, for one united goal: peace," the pureblood began, looking at each individual in the room as he spoke. "However, today, we are gathered to address a specific problem, upon which Touga shall elaborate." The pureblood sat down and politely handed the floor to the hunter seated beside him.

Yagari gave Kaname a nod of thanks, and stood up. "Level Ends are the reason this partnership between our two organizations exists," he began, garnering nods of agreement from both sides of the room. "However, they are gaining in strength and numbers, and some have even begun to operate in groups. They are organized, and even more deadly than before, killing not only civilians, but our own as well. Someone or something is behind this, and we must stop it while we can—before it becomes too late to do something. It is for this reason that we have developed a partnering system. You will work in pairs—one vampire, and one hunter—starting now and working far into the foreseeable future. The pairings will be as follows, with the vampire named first, and the hunter second." With this, Yagari sat down and a noble vampire Zero didn't know stood up and began to list off names.

Zero couldn't say that he was particularly pleased with the development. A vampire, to put it lightly, was not exactly the thing he most wanted to work with, let alone spend a majority of his time with. He sighed, closing his eyes and waiting for his name to be called.

CRUNCH.

Zero cursed under his breath in pain. Some _deadman _had smashed his foot—probably cracked the bone. He looked beside him to find the perpetrator, only to meet the gaze of an extremely displeased-looking Yagari, whose boot heel was still resting on top of Zero's much-abused foot. Zero threw a sheepish look of apology in response to the glare Yagari gave him out of the side of his eye. Discreetly rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned his attention to the vampire still droning on, listing the pairings. He noted that the hunters called were increasingly high-ranked, so he took this as a sign that things were almost over. Fortunately his name had probably not been called yet, as he was arguably at the foremost of the Association, next to Yagari and Cross, of course.

"Senri Shiki and Kaito Takamiya."

Zero found himself grinning at this pairing. Kaito held no love for vampires, as a general rule, and Shiki was a bit wary of humans, himself. It would be interesting to see how things turned out.

"Takuma Ichijou and Touga Yagari."

He watched as the two exchanged polite smiles. Zero was happy with this pairing, relatively speaking. He held, of course, a certain fondness for his old teacher, and if he had to be paired with a vampire, he supposed he was glad it was Takuma. He was strong and seemed to be a genuinely good person, and Zero respected him.

"Kaname Kuran and…"

This took Zero by surprise. He hadn't expected the pureblood to participate in this hunt, much less allow himself to be partnered to a hunter. Zero snorted. He really pitied the poor guy who had to be partnered to _that_ thing.

"Zero Kiriyuu."

Zero's eyes popped out of his skull. He clenched the edges of the table so hard his knuckles turned white. Kaname? He was partnered with _Kaname_? _How _could Yagari possibly let this happen? He stole a glance at the pureblood, certain that he would see the pureblood's customary evil smirk. But what he saw surprised him; Kaname wasn't smirking, or showing any other expression, for that matter. He was simply staring, transfixed, at an imaginary spot on the immaculate floor, seemingly deep in thought. _Whatever_, snorted Zero. He was certain that pureblood was behind this ridiculous pairing.

Contrary to Zero's belief, however, Kaname was not behind the pairing—in fact, he had almost no say in it. The idea had originally been put forth by Takuma, who in turn presented it to Yagari, who had, after some thought, agreed to it. Of course, as the stand-in leader of the council and as a pureblood, Kaname could have rejected this odd pairing, which he was quite tempted to do. However, he had no real reason to refuse the partnership, and doing so would only cause unnecessary suspicion. So, he allowed it. But that wasn't to say that he liked it. Zero, strangely enough, was the only individual—let alone _hunter_—who could cause Kaname to waver. To falter. To question himself—his actions and his feelings. But why was that? The question intrigued him to no end, but despite his hunger to know, he really didn't want to involve himself with the hunter any more than possible. Zero seemed to bring out a part in him that he didn't even know existed. He aroused feelings that were uncomfortable and unnecessary, to say the least. And Kaname feared that if he spent too much time around the hunter the feelings might become more..._permanent_.

Zero's sulking was interrupted by a last announcement from Yagari.

"You will all spend the rest of the day becoming acquainted with your partner. _Most_ of you will not be dispatched for missions yet, however, you must remain ready to leave within a day's notice. This concludes the eleventh meeting of the Vampire Council and the Hunters' Association. You are all free to go."

As hunters and vampires alike began to drift out the door, Zero stood up and confronted Yagari.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Why not?" Yagari replied, raising an eyebrow. "Kuran has proven himself to be a strong and trustworthy ally, as much as I'd rather not admit it. It's simple logic to put the best with the best. What objection do you have, Zero?"

"Well, he's-" Zero stopped himself. What, 'an arrogant bastard'? No, personal problems just weren't a valid argument, and Zero knew it. "Nothing," he finally mumbled, glowering at the floor.

Yagari grinned. "That's what I thought. Now, you'll be heading out on a mission today, so go and get acquainted with your partner."

_Of course, _Zero groaned. He _would _be one of the few to leave today, wouldn't he? Zero scowled at his misfortune, all the while making his way to the back entrance in an effort to avoid the enormous crowd. Pushing the doors open, Zero was only half-surprised at who was waiting for him.

"Kiriyuu," Kaname nodded in acknowledgement.

"Kuran," Zero replied. He waited for Kaname to say something else, but the pureblood only…looked. It wasn't a stare, really—it was more of a pondering gaze. And Zero found himself gazing back, caught in those strange, captivating russet eyes…

Zero snapped to out of his reverie, noticing the amused look the pureblood was giving him. Zero flipped his eyes away, attempting to appear disinterested. Struggling to distract from the situation, Zero searched for something to say.

"So we're partners."

Kaname arched a delicate eyebrow. "So we are."

o0o0o0o

It was about nine or so hours after the meeting, and they were finally almost to their destination, after five hours of car travel. Zero had spent the two next-to-last of those hours accidentally asleep on Kaname's shoulder, much to Kaname's amusement and Zero's chagrin. In some corner of his mind, Zero couldn't help but wonder why Kaname had even allowed that to happen, but he pushed the thought out of his brain.

Kaname glanced out at the darkening sky. The driver had said that they would be arriving at their destination—a small but prospering town—soon, and he was quite grateful for that. The car ride had mostly consisted of the two staring impassively out their respective windows, and honestly, it was starting to bore him. The only respite had been the two hours when Zero had fallen asleep on Kaname's shoulder. At first it had annoyed him, and Kaname was going to shove him off. However—and he knew it was entirely out of his character to do so— after looking at Zero's peaceful, defenseless face, Kaname decided to let him stay there until he awakened. When Zero finally did wake up, he gasped in horror at the realization of on just whom his head had been for the past two hours, and Kaname couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. Thus, for the past hour, Zero had been sulking out the front windshield.

The car slowed down and finally came to a stop in a cobbled clearing. The driver directed them to the quaint inn, and after they retrieved their luggage, drove off. When the two reached the building, they checked in with the manager, and a young maid led them to their room.

Zero stared at the maid in confusion. For the past three minutes, the maid had been stiffly walking in front of them, face red as a tomato and never speaking a word. Was she sick? Zero couldn't tell, but there was certainly something going on with this girl.

The maid stopped. "Your room, sirs."

Kaname smiled in thanks and Zero nodded in appreciation. But when they entered the room and shut the door behind them, the maid gave a loud squeal and ran off down the hallway.

While Zero was still staring at the door in bewilderment, Kaname had turned to face the room.

The pureblood chuckled in amusement. "Fangirls," he sighed.

Zero turned to question what he meant, when he realized: there was just one bed.

"Uhhhgh," Zero groaned. "How is it that they got this wrong? It's the _only_ thing they ask you when you book a room: 'Do you want _one _bed or _two_?' How. Do. They. Get. That. Wrong? The _idiots_."

Kaname grinned at the outburst. "That's a nice change from your silence, Kiriyuu." Zero frowned at the statement, which only made Kaname's grin wider. To be honest, he was surprising himself—he might actually _enjoy_ this mission. Kaname picked up the phone receiver and dialed the manager. When she picked up, he proceeded to inform her of their situation. After listening for a few minutes, he thanked them and put the phone down.

He turned to Zero to notify him of the news. "It seems they can do nothing about it. The rooms are all booked full tonight, so we're stuck with what we have." Seeing Zero's displeased expression, he added as an afterthought: "One of us could sleep on the floor."

Zero raised his eyebrow at the suggestion. "Well, it won't be me."

"Nor shall it be I," replied the pureblood, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.


	2. The First Mission

**A\N:** Let me say, I was _not_ expecting this kind of feedback & I will definitely try to continue the story. Thank you to everyone who favorited, alerted, and reviewed my story—you made this chapter worth writing! T.T

Also, I hope to get out the rest of the chapters as soon as I did this one, but I can't make any guarantees until I get my writing schedule figured out. I actually would have gotten this chapter out sooner, except I stopped in the middle to write my research paper (from scratch, it took me two days—I think that's a personal record O.O' )

Oh, and I hope you like the action scene (no, not _that_ kind of action, sorry…at least, not _yet_, anyway ;) ). It was my first time writing one, so I was kind of nervous as to how it would turn out.

**World: **No, Kaname and Zero do not have a blood bond…not yet, at least :9

**Disclaimer: **Vampire Knight—I don't own it. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, read, review, and enjoy!

o0o0o0o

Kaname wasn't going to sleep on the floor? Hah, Zero would see about that. He walked over and flopped down diagonally on the bed, intentionally leaving no extra room. Folding his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and gave a sigh of mock contentment. No sooner had he shut his eyes, however, than he was lifted into the air by some invisible force and dropped unceremoniously at Kaname's feet. After a triumphant grin, Kaname proceeded to strip down to his boxers and slip under the covers of the bed. He patted the space beside him, lips upturned in amusement at Zero's hesitance.

"I'll be merciful tonight, hunter. So if you're not going to sleep on the floor, then I would suggest you join me." Seeing that Zero was still laying on the floor limp from shock, he prodded him once more. "Unless you got enough sleep at the meeting earlier, that is," he continued with an antagonistic grin.

This sent Zero roaring back to life.

"I was _not_ sleeping," he growled, finally springing from the floor and stripping off his outer layer of clothing, sliding in next to the pureblood. …Had he really been that noticeable?

"Really?" Kaname replied in mock surprise, propping himself up on his elbow to face Zero. "It's a habit of yours to drool when you're awake, then?" Zero gave a _hmph_ in response and turned away, with a muttering of "_stupid pureblood_" under his breath, which only served to amuse said pureblood further. There was just something about the hunter that brought out Kaname's sadistic side.

o0o0o0o

Zero nestled his head farther into the pillow in an effort to return to sleep. He had drifted back to consciousness about half an hour ago, and could tell without opening his eyes that it was still the middle of the night. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't fall back asleep. He wasn't sure why, though—he had an unnaturally comfortable full-body pillow surrounding him…Wait. There weren't any full-body pillows in the room. Zero opened his eyes in a panic, only to meet a pair of lightly glowing garnet orbs not an inch from his face.

"Good morning…or rather, dawn," Kaname murmured. As if in answer to the accusing glare in the lilac eyes before him, he continued, "I awoke nearly an hour ago when you kicked me in the shin."

Zero squinted his eyes in suspicion. Just what was this pureblood up to? "I did no such thing." …although he would have very much liked to_._ But he didn't add that part.

Kaname raised an eyebrow. "Au contraire, you did, and it was quite painful too, might I add. You were having a nightmare, weren't you? Considering that you flailed about for a good fifteen minutes, until finally you launched yourself at me."

"That still doesn't explain _this_." Zero motioned to the pureblood's hand, which was draped about Zero's waist.

"It's repayment."

"For _what_?"

Kaname grinned. "Keep your limbs in check, hunter."

Zero gasped at he noticed that his arm and leg were wrapped around Kaname's bare shoulder and thigh, respectively. Yanking the traitorous limbs off of him, Zero attempted to scoot as far away as possible from the pureblood, only to be restrained by the arm around his waist.

"Oh, no, I don't think so. Once you move away you'll start flailing again, and I'd very much like to stay in one piece tonight. So you're staying right-" Kaname patted the space beside him for good measure. "-here." The pureblood raised his eyebrows, daring Zero to protest.

Zero only groaned and turned his face into the pillow. He'd deal with the stupid pureblood in the morning; right now he was too tired to care.

o0o0o0o

Zero had walked up and down the same street nearly ten times, and the locals were starting to give him nervous glances, which he returned with a dead stare. He knew that he was supposed to try and keep a low profile, but damn—these people needed to learn some manners. Deciding to take a break, he headed towards a coffee shop a bit farther down the road. He and Kaname had gotten up around six-ish to begin their mission: find and kill Level Es, interrogating them first if possible. He wasn't exactly sure how one was supposed to go about interrogating mentally deficient ex-humans, but he supposed he was going to have to try, now wasn't he? Kaname and Zero had agreed to search separately during the day—Kaname taking the north side of the town, and Zero the south—but to meet up and scout together after nightfall. And as of now, Zero had yet to see a single Level E. But just as soon as the thought hit his mind it left; to his right, his eye caught a flash of movement down an alley. Zero pulled his Bloody Rose from his pocked and sprinted towards it. He turned just in time to see a pair of hunched figures with enormous claws trailing them run up a fire escape and disappear through a darkened window. Zero growled and followed, hot in pursuit. Just as he had thought—they were Level Es.

Cocking the hammer of his gun, Zero ran down the alley and up the fire escape, ducking through the half-shut window. He gasped; the sight he beheld sickened him. The room was small and poorly lit—the only light coming from the window Zero had just climbed through. At the back of the room was a door, apparently boarded from the outside and yielding no possibility of escape. The walls and ceiling were spattered with blood, and as Zero looked in the corner, he saw the cause: a pile of human carcasses—maybe seven or eight of them—which the Level Es were currently crouched before, sucking what last blood they could coax out of them. Zero raised his hand to shoot, when he became conscious of the fact that there was now just one ex-human crouching in the corner. No sooner had he realized this than a voice popped into his ear from behind him.

"Hello," it called softly.

Suddenly, a gut-wrenching pain ripped across the right side of Zero's neck and he crumpled to the ground in agony. The being behind him exploded into a bout of maniacal laughter, walking out from behind Zero to join its companion. The two Level Es began to slowly circle him, chanting.

"Poor fool, to have wondered into our lair, like this—so helpless, so lost. You have no chance-" began one, a sing-song tone to his voice.

"-to escape," finished the other. "Silly child, to think you might get away-"

"-alive." At this word the two began to cackle once more.

Zero snarled and touched his hand to the right side of his neck and drew it away. Blood dripped from it. Seeming to have finally noticed the blood, the Level Es' head snapped up and they lunged for Zero.

"Powerful blood," they chanted. "Powerful blood that will make us powerful as well."

While they rushed at him, Zero remained crouched, waiting—timing, until…

BOOM.

Zero side-stepped one Level E—leaving it to crash into the wall behind him—and body-slammed the other, pinning it to the ground with his knees and shooting it through the heart with his Bloody Rose. Zero turned to face the other Level E.

"Hunter?" it hissed. "But your blood is not a hunter's, it is that of a-"

But the Level E never got to finish, as Zero's bullet met its head, exploding it into a cloud of ashes. Zero had no idea what garbage the Level E had been spouting—of course he was a hunter; his heritage was one of the few things he could take pride in.

"So much for interrogation," he muttered. Zero took one last look at both the carcasses in the corner and the ashes on the floor and cringed. In the end, nothing really mattered, did it? Death claims us all at one point, and what, then, would we have to show for our lives? Nothing, save a carcass in the corner or a pile of ashes on the floor. Zero sighed. He hated this job, he really did—but at the same time, he loved it. He witnessed so many deaths, but he saved so many lives. It wasn't that he had no pity for the Level Es—he did, more so that anyone else he knew. No, Zero simply understood the need to eliminate them. He understood that they had no place in this world, and he could certainly empathize. For, as much as Zero disliked him, even Kaname had his place—as a pureblood vampire. Yagari had his place as a hunter. Cross, Kaito, Takuma—they all had their places. But not Zero—a hunter who killed the last bit of family he had with his own hands and an ex-human doomed to eventually face the same fate as every other ex-human: obliteration. It might even be done by someone he knew—Yagari, maybe? Or would it be Kaito, or possibly even Cross? Or perhaps it would be done by someone from the Association. Could it be Takuma or Shiki? Or would the deed be done by…Kaname? Zero snorted at the irony.

Shaking his head, Zero forced the morbid thoughts from his brain. They would do him no good, and what he needed to focus on now was getting back to the inn. Suddenly remembering something, Zero pulled out the Bloody Rose and checked his neck in the side of the gun's reflective barrel. What he saw were five bloody gashes running from underneath his jaw to right above his collarbone. Claw marks. To Zero's amazement, he could already see where the slashes had begun to repair themselves around the edges. Of course, he had regenerative abilities as a low-class vampire, but he had never healed this quickly before. Dismissing it as merely a lack of attention on his part, Zero lifted up the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away some of the blood. Wincing at the touch, he decided it was impossible at the moment, so he simply lifted up the collar of his shirt and hoped that no one would look too closely. Zero checked his reflection once more and groaned. He looked like a hobo that had picked a fight with the local feline population and lost. Rubbing the blood off his face and smoothing out his ruffled hair and clothes, Zero figured that it was the best he would do, and clambered down the fire escape to make the long walk back to the inn.

o0o0o0o

Zero entered the room in the inn, only to find an extremely agitated pureblood, arms crossed and garnet eyes narrowed in a glare. Zero could only stare back, wide-eyed. What…had he done? Despite himself, he felt a shiver run through his body.

Kaname grabbed him by the shoulders and directed him to the edge of the bed. "Sit," he commanded, face still taut with frustration. Zero had neither the will nor the mind to refuse to order, so he sat down on the bed, at which point the pureblood eyed the obvious red stain on the right side of Zero's neck warily.

"Shirt off," Kaname ordered, turning around and rummaging through his bag, apparently looking for something.

"Wait…_what_?"

Kaname groaned and turned around to face the hunter, meeting his befuddled expression with an even glare. "Remove. Your. Shirt." Sighing when he realized that Zero was still too surprised make a move, Kaname raised Zero's arms above his head and took the now-bloodied shirt off of him. When he finally was able to look at Zero's neck, however, he gasped and took a step backwards.

"Do you have any idea," he whispered, "how close you came to dying?"

At this Zero's eyes widened. The pureblood was certainly not one to overreact—if anything, he _under_reacted to situations. This was serious.

Kaname slowly shook his head in amazement. "I had smelled the blood when you walked in the building, though I probably would have noticed it sooner if I wasn't busy with paperwork. I knew that it would be bad, but I didn't realize that it would be so…lethal. The wound is so deep…if it hadn't started healing the moment it was inflicted, you would be dead right now." Kaname sighed, lifting up the small bottle he had previously retrieved from his bag. He unscrewed the lid, poured the contents on a cotton swab, and began to gently dab at Zero's wound, causing Zero to flinch in pain.

"_Ouch_, it _stings_," he complained. "What _is_ that stuff?"

"Anti-venom—a gift from Cross. But I didn't think that I would actually _need_ it." Kaname gave a pointed glare at Zero. "Believe it or not, Level E venom is actually quite potent, even to purebloods." Kaname paused for a moment, pensive. "Actually, _especially_ to purebloods."

"But I thought you purebloods were 'invincible'," Zero scoffed.

Kaname gave a wry grin. "Not quite." After another moment of thought, he continued. "When a pureblood creates a Level E, it becomes customized—so to speak—for the pureblood that turned it, becoming toxic to all other purebloods. Against a pureblood, a Level E is a lethal weapon. They can't be controlled by purebloods like Level Bs and Cs can, as they are basically extensions of the pureblood's body. This makes them the most dangerous thing to a pureblood, aside from another pureblood of course." As an afterthought, he added, mumbling to himself, "It's one theory as to how the Missing Eighth disappeared."

"Missing Eighth?" Zero furrowed his brow, trying to remember where he had heard that before.

"Oh?" Kaname raised an eyebrow, his tone lightening. "I forgot—you were raised as a hunter. Well, well—it looks like you're in for a bit of a history lesson." There was momentary silence as Kaname searched for a good place to start. "You know the seven pureblood families—Ouri, Shirabuki, Hiou, Hanadagi, Touma, Shoutou, and Kuran—correct?"

Zero nodded for Kaname to get on with it.

"Well once, a long time ago, there was an eighth pureblood family. No one can remember their name, so they are referred to as the Missing Eighth, or simply the Eighth. They were rumored to be one of the strongest families, even surpassing some Kurans." Kaname chuckled at Zero's eye-roll. "But they say that around 5,000 years ago, the family just…_disappeared_, leaving no traces whatsoever. The most obvious explanation would be that they died out, but many doubt it. A pureblood's death can't go unnoticed—when they pass on, everyone just…_knows_."

Kaname had finished dabbing the solution on Zero's wound, and had turned to retrieve a towel to wipe of the remainder of the blood, when Zero remembered something.

"Level Es don't have some sort of special…blood-sensing abilities, do they?"

"Hmm?" Kaname looked up distractedly at the question. "I suppose, if you would call it that. Because of the poison that they contain, Level Es are essentially blind, so they rely on their enhanced ability to discern blood in order to find their prey and escape from enemies. Thus, they can tell the difference between humans, hunters, regular vampires, and even purebloods with infallible accuracy."

Kaname dabbed at Zero's wound one last time for good measure, standing up and surveying his work with satisfaction. He bent back down to pad the affliction with gauze, before finishing it off with a bandage.

Suddenly, Zero felt a weight upon his shoulders, and he was pushed down on his back onto the mattress. He looked up in alarm, only to find Kaname barely an arm's width from his face, a devious gleam in his garnet eyes.

Kaname smirked, whispering: "Let's try to avoid slipping up like this again, shall we? I might not fix you up next time…" He leaned in closer, until his lips were almost touching the hunter's ear. "…_Zero_."

But suddenly Kaname jerked away, eyebrows furrowed in an unreadable expression, and headed towards the door.

"Get some rest," the pureblood threw over his shoulder. "We'll head out at midnight."

Zero almost didn't hear him, for the frantic beating of his own heart. He shut his eyes, attempting to slow down his suddenly ragged breathing. What had just happened? What had he _wanted_ to happen? Zero sighed, throwing his arm over his face in defeat. He had absolutely no clue.

Shutting the door behind him, Kaname flattened himself against the wall beside it, throwing his head back in an effort to slow his breathing. He had needed to get out of there. Fast. Just what was it that he had been about to do? Kaname groaned. That _hunter_—just how he could cause Kaname to leave behind all his inhibitions and become so ridiculously reckless, the pureblood had absolutely no idea.

o0o0o0o

It was a bit past midnight, and Zero and Kaname had just stepped out into the night to begin the hunt. The night would have warm, except for a chill wind that had been sweeping across the town. The temperature was causing Zero to shiver and even Kaname to pull his greatcoat a bit more tightly around him.

Kaname caught Zero's eye. "Are you _sure_ you can handle this?"

"_Yes_," came the irritated reply, a growl accompanying it. The stupid pureblood had been asking that ever since Zero had awakened from his rest after being clawed by the Level E, the frequency of the questioning only having increased after they hit the frigid night air. Of course, it seemed strange that someone who had been at death's doorstep was now suddenly good-as-new, and honestly, Zero couldn't explain it himself—he only knew that he felt fine now, even if he _was_ still a bit fatigued. If Zero didn't know better, though, he would have thought that Kaname actually cared about him. Good thing he knew better.

Zero glanced over at the pureblood walking next to him. They had lapsed into a silence that had lasted a good ten minutes, through which time Zero had spaced a bit. As a result, he had absolutely no clue where he was now. It was a bit embarrassing, but he had to know.

"Where...are we, exactly?"

Kaname glanced at him, a look of confusion crossing his features. "I haven't the slightest idea. I was following you."

Zero sighed. "And I was following you."

After thirty minutes of painful backtracking, the two finally arrived back at the street they where they had begun. Kaname mentally punched himself. How could he have been so remiss? He wasn't normally one to follow along blindly, but he had assumed that the hunter knew where he was going, and besides, he had some things on his mind lately…namely, Zero. He was quite an enigma, really—he could see why the Association had an entire row of shelving labeled 'Zero Kiryu'. Kaname was still trying to find some logical explanation as to how Zero had healed as fast as he did from the Level E wound, but he could find none. He was also trying to discover why, exactly, he was concerning himself so much with the silver-haired hunter… Groaning, he put the thought out of his mind, instead focusing on the mission at hand.

He turned to Zero, catching his eye. "Considering I didn't encounter anything during the day, and you _obviously_ did…" Kaname couldn't help but to narrow his eyes in a glare when he motioned at Zero's neck. The bandage had since been removed, leaving only the still-healing angry red streaks as a reminder to what had occurred. "We should probably start in the alleyway where you encountered the Level Es."

Zero silently nodded his agreement, and they began their trek to the alley.

It was almost ten minutes later, and they had just arrived at the entrance to the alley. Zero grasped his Bloody Rose and stepped in. Suddenly, the stench of Level Es overcame him, and he raised his gun in alarm, trying to pinpoint the source. Usually, hunters would need a charm to do this, but Zero had never found the need—he could somehow just _sense_ where they were. And if Zero wasn't wrong, the Level Es were…below them? He looked over at Kaname, and his suspicions were confirmed.

The pureblood was standing, frowning at a dark circular opening on the side of the street large enough to fit through. "The sewers," he muttered in disbelief.


	3. Into the Sewer

A/N: Like before, thank you so much for all the favorites, alerts, and especially reviews! They are always a huge motivator for me, and are pretty much the only reason I continue this story ^_^

Also, I'm so so so sorry about how long it took me to post this chapter, but I hope the extra length makes up for it a bit (5,000 words, baby :P). I had debate, and we had a new topic, and…yeah. But you can thank the snow day for it getting finished today. It took forever, but now it's done and I can finally go play in the snow now ;)

I hope this chapter doesn't seem to drag on, but I think that it's actually necessary for both character and plot development :/

Disclaimer still stands

Please read, review, and enjoy! ^_^

o0o0o0o

The sewer's entrance was crumbling around the edges and in a general state of disrepair—obviously long forgotten since the town had switched to a different, newer sewer system. Zero peered over the edge of the hole in repugnance. It wasn't the grime, so much, that bothered him—that was something he dealt with often when sent out on missions. No, it was the horrible, gut-wrenching stench. It rose from the ground and permeated everything it could reach, making it inescapable. Zero was amazed that he had missed not only the smell, but the immense presence when he was chasing the Level Es earlier—there had to be thirty, if not forty Level Es down there. He hated to admit it, but it would be absolute suicide to go down there with anything but a pureblood to back him up. Zero's musings, however, were interrupted by a sharp trill. Locking his finger over the trigger of his Bloody Rose, Zero whipped around and trained his gun on the noise, only to find Kaname with both hands in the air and a delicate eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Hold on there, hunter. I'll be more useful to you in one piece." He smirked, and added "It was only my cell phone," taking said phone out of his pocket and pressing it to his ear. After about forty seconds, the pureblood scowled in disdain, pocketing the phone. "Apparently I'm needed to resolve a land dispute between two aristocrats. Otherwise we risk a Blood Feud." Kaname shuddered at the thought. The last thing the world needed was another of those. The most recent one had been resolved only months ago. The 700 years of war between the two families had obliterated two small countries and come dangerously close to wiping out a third. The council had been busy for months wiping the memories of the humans unfortunate enough to have been involved. No, he was not going to deal with another ridiculous Feud.

What? Zero was dumbstruck. That stupid vampire was leaving him at a time like this? "Well," he hissed, "what exactly am I supposed to do about this, then?" He nodded his head at the angrily fuming void of the sewer before him.

Kaname matched Zero's accusatory glare evenly. "Travel included, the trip should take a bit less than a day, so we'll resume the hunt then. The Level Es down in that sewer seem to have been down there a while, and if they were going to simply kill, they would have already done that. As much as I would rather not, I believe that we can afford to wait a bit until we take care of them. Unless anything serious comes up, try to stay out of things and away from Level Es as much as possible." Narrowing his eyes at the hunter in condemnation, he added "Because I will not be cleaning up another bloody mess." He glanced behind him, listening for some far-off sound. "The car's here now," he murmured, before slipping off into the night.

Zero glared at the spot where the pureblood had been only moments ago. 'Try to stay out of things', huh? Like hell he would. He was not going to be treated like some petulant child—especially not by Kaname. Zero would have his fight, whether it took place in that sewer or not. He glanced over at the sound of a trashcan tumbling over across the street, only to see a flash of feral crimson. He gave a cruel smirk; his fight was waiting.

o0o0o0o

Zero looked up at the slowly lightening sky in surprise, momentarily pausing from cleaning his gun of blood splatters. He couldn't believe it was already sunrise, but then again—time sure flies when you're having fun. The corners of his mouth turned up in a dark grin. Within the span of just three hours, he had single-handedly tracked down and killed eleven Level Es—the town should give him a medal. He was interrupted from his recollections by an uncomfortable tingling sensation on his arm. Looking down, he found it bathed in the faint light of early dawn. He pulled his hand away, sighing in frustration as it did indeed cause the tingling to stop. Lately, he had been growing more and more sensitive to the sun, his vulnerability only increasing with fatigue. He had absolutely no clue why, and it was…frustrating him, to say the least. Sighing, he turned and headed for the inn, keeping to the shadows as much as he could.

Stepping in the room, Zero almost expected to see a pair of angry garnet eyes staring back at him, but he saw nothing. He groaned and flopped down onto the bed, exhausted; a shower could wait. As he lay there, his mind began to wonder. How could he have possibly let that pretentious pureblood get to him like that? Even though it might not seem like it, he was normally one to think with his head. But Kaname had just made him so damn angry—that guy needed to get his priorities straight; if he was on a mission, he shouldn't just leave him like that. Zero scowled, closing his eyes and burrowing into the pillow. He might as well get some rest while he could.

o0o0o0o

Zero's eyes flew open, his chest slicked with a cold sweat and heaving in labored breathing. That dream again. He hadn't had it since he had been forced to share the bed with Kaname, and he had almost forgotten about it. He paused, eyes squinting in concentration. There had been something else… Ah, the Missing Eighth—he knew he had heard it before—it had been in his dream. Shuddering, he rolled to his side and curled his knees up; that was just too creepy. Before, he had blamed the dreams on his guilt over Ichiru, but now, he didn't know what to think. Sure, maybe the whole thing was merely the result of an overactive imagination, but then again, Zero had never really been the creative type.

Just as he had been about to drift back off to sleep, a creak sounded from the door, and Zero looked up to see a tall, lean figure step over the threshold.

"Kuran," he greeted coldly.

Kaname nodded in even acknowledgement. "Kiryu." He had expected Zero to be upset with him—after all, he did leave in the middle of a mission. He glanced over at the hunter still lying on the bed. Even with the dim half-light of dusk, the pureblood could perfectly see the miniscule splatters of dried blood on his face. Swallowing back a growl, Kaname took a deep, calming breath, walking to the bathroom and grabbing a dampened hand towel. It wasn't like he had actually expected the obstinate hunter to follow his directions, was it? He tossed the towel at Zero. "Clean up. We depart in ten minutes," he directed, already walking over to the small desk in the corner of the room to begin filling out the massive amounts of paperwork that had managed to pile up in his absence.

Despite himself, Zero quivered. He somehow had the feeling that he had just avoided what could have been an extremely dangerous situation.

o0o0o0o

Kaname peered over the edge of the sewer in distaste. Sure—since it wasn't used by the town anymore, there wasn't going to be raw sewage floating around, but he shuddered to think of all the muck that must have accumulated over the years—his poor new leather shoes! Looking up, he was just in time to see a tuft of silver disappearing behind the edge of the sewer's entrance. He groaned and slipped down after the hunter.

Zero stared down the long tunnel of the sewer, scrunching his nose in revulsion. Glancing around, he mused that if it weren't for the horrid smell, he might actually enjoy being down there. The corridor was just wide enough for two people standing with their arms outstretched to barely brush fingertips with each other and the walls. Zero noted that the tunnel was, thankfully, high enough for him to stand upright—with almost a foot of room to spare, even. The walls—which had assumedly been the result of stonework—were covered in some sort of mineral deposit, making the place look more like a natural cave than anything manmade. Even though the sewer hadn't been used in what looked like a long time, there was about an inch or so of stagnant water, which made Zero ever-so-grateful for the waterproof seal on his shoes. Zero absently peered deeper down into the tunnel, only to find that he could see perfectly into the darkness, as if it were daytime. He frowned. This is new. Suddenly sensing a presence beside him, he turned his head to find the silently brooding pureblood. His frown deepened at this change of tone—he had been so nonchalant not moments before.

The questioning gaze snapped Kaname out of his thoughts. "The Level Es are still here, which is…good news, I suppose? However, I can't tell how many there are, or their exact location. I know that there are a lot, and I can point us in the right direction, but that's about it. I don't know what's going on, but," he touched his fingertips gingerly to the side of his head with a strained expression, "I suddenly have a terrible headache."

Zero scowled. An incapacitated Kaname was definitely not a good thing. That, coupled with the fact that Zero himself was dead tired (in retrospect, the killing spree probably wasn't the best idea he'd ever had) didn't leave them with very good chances of getting out of there unharmed, if at all. But thanks to Kaname's little errand, the situation had been put off long enough, and needed to be diffused before something serious happened. Exhausted or not, this was going to have to be dealt with now. He glanced over at the lean figure next to him. As much as he hated relying on the conceited pureblood for anything, he really didn't want to be wondering around aimlessly. "So which way do we go?"

Kaname closed his eyes, concentrating. After a moment, he opened them and motioned to the right. Zero nodded and they took up a brisk pace in that direction.

It was eerily quiet as the duo continued down the long corridor, which only made Zero grasp his Bloody Rose more tightly. Flicking his eyes to the side, he noticed that Kaname was also on edge—his hand hovering just above the handle of his sword. The pureblood couldn't use his abilities without alerting every vampire within a 600-mile radius of his whereabouts, so he had to keep his aura constantly in-check. This meant, of course, that Kaname needed a weapon of some sorts, which turned out to be a pair of long, thin, yet surprisingly strong Chinese-made swords. If he were to picture Kaname with a sword, it would have been a traditional katana, if anything—but hey, whatever worked. Zero himself carried a small wakizashi for close combat, but in general, he tended to avoid swords and blades, instead relying on his beloved Bloody Rose.

Zero was suddenly snapped out of his reverie by a long, wet tendril that slapped onto his face. Panicking, he froze, slowly lifting a slightly shaking hand to touch the tendril. Zero chuckled—it was just a rope. Looking up, he saw that it was attached to the top of the tunnel. He turned his head to look before him, only to find dozens more of the ropes. He glanced behind him, where Kaname had stopped, pensive. Shrugging, Zero continued on, all the while focused on the strange hanging ropes.

"Kiryu," Kaname called out. "If I'm not mistaken, those ropes mean that-"

CRASH. Zero tumbled down a sheer 15-foot drop, landing on his shoulder and yelping in pain.

Kaname bounded to the ledge and leapt down to Zero in one fluid motion. Giving the hunter a quick once-over and noticing nothing serious amiss, he exhaled noisily. "Like I was saying, those ropes are there to notify workers of a significant drop ahead. But apparently," he raised an eyebrow in a smirk, "they aren't idiot-proof."

Zero scowled back, standing up and wiping his now dripping form off, still recovering from the shock of falling 15 feet—a feat that probably would have left him with much more than just a bruised shoulder if he were a human. But of course, Kaname had acted like it was nothing. That damned cocky pureblood needed to be knocked down a notch—or ten—but regrettably, now was not the time. He sighed and shoved the thought away, focusing on the task at hand. "So, how do we get back up?"

Kaname cocked his head at this question. "Well, I can jump…" He left the statement unfinished, as if asking a question.

Zero frowned; he couldn't, and the smirking vampire standing before him, of course, knew that. On a good day, he could reach maybe 10 feet at the maximum, but that was if he wasn't tired in the least; 15 feet was positively out of the question.

Sensing the hunter's discomfort, Kaname continued. "You know, I could always carry you up." He gave a sadistic grin.

"Like hell, Kuran."

Kaname feigned an exasperated sigh. "Always the obstinate one, aren't we?" He closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating. Re-opening them, the jovial mask from before was removed, and his expression was now one of seriousness. "As far as I can tell, the Level Es are this way anyway," he motioned behind Zero, where the tunnel continued on level ground, "so going back would actually be counterproductive. If we continue, we should be able to find an alternate way out anyways."

Zero shook his head in a dismissive gesture and raised his foot to take a step forward. However, the foot returned to its previous resting place when the pureblood raised his arm before the hunter, commanding a halt. The hunter turned his head to glare impatiently at the now frowning man beside him. "What?" He made sure to stress every ounce of annoyance in that single word.

The pureblood opened his mouth to speak, furrowed brows silhouetting eyes still trained on the ground. "We were close enough that all the noise you made in your tumble should have notified the Level Es of our presence here. I've been waiting for them to begin their retreat, but they have not yet run." He trained his gaze on Zero, giving a meaningful look.

Now it was Zero's turn to scowl. It was perplexing, at the least—not to mention worrying. A Level E, by nature, was a skittish creature, avoiding conflict when possible and preferring to skulk in the shadows, waiting for unsuspecting humans to stray too close. Thus given the chance—which they most certainly had—any Level E would flee. The fact that they hadn't meant that something was certainly amiss. They were either starved and willing to risk it in a fight, or they were being led by some intelligent force. Either way meant that the Level Es were going to be even more dangerous.

Kaname looked seriously at Zero. "They're expecting us."

Zero returned his gaze evenly. "Then let's not keep them waiting." He strode forward, and the quick strides of the pureblood soon brought them shoulder-to-shoulder. They continued on like that through the tunnel. He could certainly tell that they were getting closer to the Level Es, as his eyes were quite literally watering from the horrid reek that had been slowly but surely increasing in potency the farther they continued on into the sewer. If Zero was feeling apprehensive in the least, he didn't show it at all on his face; he wore a stony mask that would have terrified any sane person. Though, it really didn't do any good, as there wasn't a single individual in that sewer that was sane. The only betrayal of his anxiety was his hand, which was continually shifting its hold on the gleaming silver gun it so tightly grasped. Kaname, as well, appeared completely calm and even slightly entertained. The forefinger of his right hand was hovered over the handle of the sword belted to his right hip, slowly tracing lazy circles over the end. However, Zero could tell that the pureblood was just as nervous as he, although Kaname was excellent at hiding it. If one looked more closely, they could see the way that the pureblood's muscles were taught in concentration, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice, and how his tread was unusually stiff and controlled.

Zero frowned and halted his thoughts. They had hardly spent two days together, yet Zero was already recognizing Kaname's mannerisms? He grimaced—this pureblood invaded not only his personal space, but apparently his thoughts as well.

He was ripped from his musings when something latched onto the back of his collar and yanked him violently backwards. To his surprise, rather than the cold damp ground, he fell back into something warm and firm. Just as he was about to turn to view the perpetrator, however, a pale blur flew across the spot where he had been standing not moments ago with a feral shriek. Zero felt the warm wall behind him pull back, and he heard the sound of swords leaving their sheaths. Oh. Lifting his gun to shoulder level, he adjusted his stance; he realized what was happening now. That thing was a Level E, and his savior had been none other than the obnoxious pureblood. Just lovely—yet another debt he owed to that bastard.

The Level E that had flung itself across the tunnel recovered from missing its target, righting itself in a series of jerky motions and managing to avoid slamming into the wall, only to meet Zero's bullet and promptly explode into a puff of ashes. Turning his head, he was just quick enough to dodge a swipe at his neck by a pair of sharp claws. Stepping forward, he slashed cleanly through the Level E's torso with his wakizashi. Out of the way of immediate harm, Zero took a moment to survey the scene. About ten feet away was Kaname slashing away at the mob of ten-or-so Level Es that surrounded him. The pureblood was handling them with ease, his blades arcing gracefully through the air to decapitate Level E after Level E with sickening squelches. Seeing that Kaname was handling himself, Zero turned to handle a more pressing issue: a wave of around 15 Level Es sprinting toward him, their mouths, which were curved in grotesque imitations of smiles, emitting bouts of deranged cackling. The mob was still a good 20 feet away, but at the rate at which they were travelling, they would reach Zero in a matter of moments. The hunter tightened his grips and raised his weapons. When the wave hit him, everything seemed to go into slow motion for Zero. He shot; he slashed. He shot; he slashed. Zero went into an almost machine-like mode, his brain on autopilot while his hands repeated the same motions, over and over. He half-smirked. It was almost refreshing—this simple repetition of movements so basic yet so effective and deadly. It reminded him of some of his fondest memories—of times less austere: when his only duty was to study and train under Yagari, and his family was still unfractured. It also reminded him of why he was one of the most feared hunters alive.

The action was over in what seemed to Zero like just minutes. He sagged against the side of the tunnel; the fighting had taken more out of him than he had realized. He took a deep, refreshing breath and turned back to face the pureblood. However, rather than looking relieved or at the least calm, Kaname was focused, frowning inwardly.

Noticing Zero's quizzical gaze, Kaname looked up and replied in an irritated tone. "That wasn't all of the Level Es. There are more waiting on the other side on that wall; I can sense it." He pointed ahead, where the tunnel was closed off by a wall with a rectangular hole at the bottom barely large enough for one man to walk through. From what could be seen, it looked like it led to a large room. "We'll have a disadvantage fighting in an open area like that, but it seems as if our feral friends aren't willing to come out themselves to greet us. We should likely find the source of this unpleasant stench in there as well." He gave a sardonic smirk. "Besides, our only exit is going to be that way, unless you would accept my offer to carry you." This elicited a glare from Zero, which only served to widen the pureblood's smirk.

Both sobered, however, as they walked towards the rectangular hole. They stepped in, first Zero then Kaname.

Zero quickly glanced about the room. It really was huge, with bare gray walls all measuring probably fifty feet across and twenty feet high. The floor was a large grate with one-inch-holes throughout. Kaname had been right about the exit, he noticed; in the back right corner were discreet metal rungs that led up to a small, circular hole in the ceiling, through which Zero could see the pink light of dawn. However, it was what was in the back left corner of the room that was most notable. For, simmering in an enormous vat of viscous, red fluid were three floating human corpses.

Beside him, Kaname made a sound of disgust. "I suppose we've found the source of the odor." The pureblood shook his head in an effort to dismiss the horror. "At any rate, we must be watching for the Level Es; they should be here somewhere. As we'll be at a disadvantage if we both have to cover all sides, let us try to stay together."

However, no sooner had he said that than a mass of yowling figures fell from above and slammed into Zero, sending him flying nearly 15 feet across the room with their inhuman strength. To his horror, his Bloody Rose flew from his hand, landing five feet away. Though he was dazed and aching from being flung onto the ground, Zero forced himself to his feet and made a mad dash for his beloved gun. One of the Level Es beat him to it, however, picking it up but promptly flinging it even farther away with a scream of agony as the gun crackled and sizzled at the Level E's touch. Cursing, Zero drew out his last remaining weapon: his wakizashi. There was absolutely no way of retrieving his gun now, as Level Es began dropping from the ceiling where they had been waiting like flies. He looked over and saw that Kaname was already completely surrounded by a horde of Level Es. The swarm of Level Es around Zero were quickly growing in number and imminence, and Zero could barely hold them off with just his wakizashi. But suddenly, the wakizashi was flung from his grasp by flailing a set of claws, hitting a wall and shattering with a sickening sound.

Oh god. He was absolutely defenseless now, against the mass of Level Es that quite literally filled the entire room. It was ridiculous just how many there were—fifty, maybe sixty? How could one pureblood possibly make all those this quickly? For, they all had to originate from a single pureblood of they would kill each other at first glance. However, not only were they not killing each other, but it seemed almost as if…they were working together. He could hold them off for minutes, at most, using just his hand-to-hand combat skills, but he knew that he would soon be overrun. Suddenly, Zero saw a silver blur flying straight at him, and he reached out, grabbing it on instinct. He glanced down so see just what it was that he had seized. In his hand, he saw a masterfully crafted three-foot-long double edged sword, looking to be of Chinese origin. At its hilt was a massive and stunning garnet, ornate silver with black Indian ink for accent decorating the rest of the handle. As he began once again to slash through the Level Es with a renewed abandon, he looked over at the pureblood. Their eyes met, and Zero silently conveyed his gratitude, eliciting a nod of solemn acknowledgement from Kaname.

It had taken what seemed like forever, but finally, finally they had managed to rid the room of all the Level Es. Rather, all save one. This last Level E was proving to be a challenge to kill, especially considering how Zero was about to faint from fatigue, and even the pureblood was showing some signs of weariness. However, after a lengthy chase, the duo had at last been able to corner the wretched E, and Kaname was now standing before it, ready to eliminate it, while Zero was standing roughly ten feet back, poised lest it attempted to escape again.

Just as Kaname raised his sword to strike the Level E down, though, there was a faint flash of light around the Level E. Without warning, the Level E straightened up from its previous slouched position and began to speak slowly in a silky, sneering tone.

"Oh Kaname, my Kaname," it began, its voice a grotesque imitation of a croon. "How you have grown! I haven't seen you in such a long while, but I see that you have become a fine vampire. I have left you alone up until this point, but I believe that now you are ready. It is time; come. Come with me." At this, the Level E took a step towards Kaname, lifting its palm in a gesture of beckoning.

Kaname sneered at this. "What an unusually eloquent E we have here. It's truly a shame that you will be eliminated." At this he raised his sword farther, and began to thrust it at the Level E's head, However, about a foot away from the Level E, the sword stopped, as if it hit an invisible wall. Kaname hissed, body shaking with obvious effort, yet the sword did not move. The headache that had begun as uncomfortable throbbing at the beginning of their journey into the sewer exploded into a gut-wrenching pain that rocketed throughout the rest of his body.

The Level E erupted into a bout of maniacal laughter. "Oh, my dog, if you can't even harm this body, what chance have you with my real one?" He leered. "Now, as I said, come with-" However, it stopped in mid sentence, as its gaze fell behind Kaname, falling on a certain silver-haired hunter. "Oh? What have we here? Could it possibly be—yes! I believe it is. This shall certainly be-" He paused to think of the right word, grinning when he found it. "Interesting."

With the Level E distracted, Kaname somehow found the strength to move, albeit barely, from his previously paralyzed state. He gathered all his power, and sliced his sword through the Level E's torso. However, it was not a powerful enough strike, as only the surface was cut. He yelled at Zero, while the Level E was still writhing in pain. "NOW!"

Zero, who had been taken aback by the Level E's actions now sprung into motion, using his last remaining ounce of strength to fling the sword at it, piercing cleanly though its heart. The last thing he heard before he passed out was the deranged cackling of the Level E as it dissolved into ashes.

Kaname bent over and retrieved his swords, taking out his phone and dialing the association to notify them that the mission was finished. Yagari, who had answered the phone, notified him that a car would arrive to pick them up within the hour, and that the aftermath would be handled by the Clearing Squad. Hanging up the phone, he walked over to the place where Zero had collapsed.

"It seems," he whispered solemnly to Zero's unconscious form, "that we shall have to confront a dangerous enemy." He then bent over and picked Zero up, but paused, remembering something. He strode over to the front corner of the room and retrieved the hunter's Bloody Rose. The gun crackled and sparked in protest, but not so much as to cause the pureblood to drop it. Kaname reattached the gun's chain to the hunter's belt and slipped it into Zero's pocket. He half-smirked to himself. "You wouldn't be much of a hunter without your gun, now would you?" Kaname then made his way to the back right corner of the room and stepped up the metal rungs in the wall, careful not to bump the hunter's head on his way. As he stepped through the manhole and into the early morning air, however, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to the Level E—the Level E with the strange blue and crimson eyes.


	4. An Enticing Aroma

**A/N:** Like before, thank you so much to all of you who have put this story on your alerts and favorites lists, and to all of you who have taken your time to write those lovely reviews I so adore! 3

You can once again thank the snow for this chapter getting done today (otherwise I probably would have put it off for another week or so ^^"). But this time, it wasn't just a snow _day_, it was a snow _week_. Yup, Monday-Friday; the snow is about a foot high, which is more than I have ever seen here :O

Also, I feel pretty proud of myself—what with me getting this chapter done in just a little over a week. Don't get me wrong, I really do enjoy writing, it's just…I get distracted. Quite easily. ^^"

But anyway, about the actual chapter… I liked writing this more than I did the sewer chapter, honestly. This chapter seemed more lighthearted and fun, I suppose. Also it's a bit smuttier—but just a bit ;) But I'll shut up now, sorry. ^^'

Disclaimer still stands.

Please read, review, and enjoy! :D

o0o0o0o

Zero's eyes flickered open, only to immediately squeeze shut again. The room he was in was a blinding sunny yellow which he was sure would give him a headache if he looked too long. He shifted his head, trying to find a comfortable position on the overly-soft pillow. Scrunching his nose in dislike, he reminisced about his own pillow and mattress… Zero frowned; speaking of which, where _was_ he? The last thing he remembered was jousting a sword, then being lifted up, then…nothing. Zero's heart rate momentarily increased, but he forced himself to be calm and rational. He twitched his arms and legs, checking for restraints and finding none. Giving a slight sigh of relief, he then proceeded to check the condition of the rest of his body, shifting and torquing as discreetly as he could. Besides mildly sore muscles and a _very_ tender shoulder, he was completely fine. Deciding that whatever individual in was in charge of the room probably meant him no immediate harm, Zero slowly, tentatively opened his eyes.

WHACK.

Zero's eyes bolted open as something slammed hard into his forehead. He sighed in relief and then exasperation as he realized the perpetrator: Yagari, whose fist was still resting on Zero's forehead, and was busy yelling at him.

"BAKA. Do you have any idea how stupid—not to mention _embarrassing_—it is to pass out on a mission?"

Zero sat up and groaned, mumbling, "The mission was already finished, you know."

Yagari went on, ignoring Zero. "Do you know what went through my mind when I saw Kuran carrying you from the car? I thought you were _dead_. But it turns out you were only sleeping. _Sleeping_." Yagari gave Zero's already-tender forehead another smack for good measure.

Zero looked to the side sheepishly. He knew he deserved it, though he wouldn't take this treatment from anyone other than his former master. He had gone on an anger-induced killing spree, and even though it was good that he had eliminated the Level Es, the sewer had been the priority, and he had needlessly tired himself out so much that it could have easily cost them the mission and possibly their lives. It had been stupid of him and he deserved every blow from Yagari.

Seeing the remorse in his former student's eyes, Yagari's gaze softened, and he mussed Zero's hair fondly. "Just be careful, kid. Your life isn't something you should be so careless with."

At that moment, the chairman came flying into the room, a strange greenish liquid sloshing out of the cup he was holding. "Zero-chan! You're awake!" He beamed and captured Zero in a bear hug, which Zero would have evaded had he been less stiff. The chairman had apparently forgotten about the cup of greenish liquid he had been holding, however, as nearly half of its contents were now sizzling and bubbling on the floor beside the bed. Frowning, the chairman looked at the cup, checking how much of the liquid was left. Apparently deciding it was enough, his smile returned and he nudged Zero with the cup, requesting him to take it. "It's a special recipe of mine. I call it 'Super Special Happy Get-Better Soup of Love'." Seeing Zero's reluctance at taking the cup, the chairman simply grinned even more widely and made motions to pour the liquid down Zero's throat himself, only to be pulled away by Yagari.

"What the boy needs right now is peace and quiet, not one of your god-awful concoctions. But there won't be any peace and quiet while _you're_ still here." Yagari motioned to the door, glaring pointedly at the chairman and ignoring his puppy-dog face.

With a pout and an overly-wounded expression, the chairman moped out the door. Sighing in relief, Yagari closed it and walked back towards Zero.

"You've been out pretty long, you know."

Zero frowned; it felt like he had gotten a full nights' rest, but definitely nothing more. "How long?"

"Two days. Today would have been the third."

Grimacing even further when a wave of fatigue hit him, Zero laid back down. Had he really been that tired? Sure, he hadn't been sleeping too well—courtesy those stupid dreams—but two days was a bit just ridiculous. Absently, he glanced around the room. Like he had noticed before, all of the walls and most all other paintable surfaces were covered in a coat of sickeningly bright sunshine-yellow—dresser, desk, bedposts, even the small adjoining bathroom—everything. The only respite from this was the carpet, which was a rich, coffee brown that somehow coordinated with the yellow quite nicely. The room was small and rather Spartan, though what items existed were strewn about the room in a strangely comforting state of disarray. The most striking element of theroom was the large but simple desk shoved in the corner of the room, piled haphazardly with dozens of books and documents. He glanced to his right, to a large window with its yellow draperies drawn, mercifully shading his still-sensitive eyes from the harsh light of what he assumed was noon. This room was vaguely familiar, though he hadn't stepped into it for years—Cross's room. He turned to Yagari, however, as he thought of something.

"Where does Cross sleep?"

Yagari stepped aside so Zero could see and motioned behind him to a pile of blankets on the floor. "He was worried that having you moved all the way to your room in the Sun dorms might have woken you up, so he insisted you took his bed. You were running a fever at the time, so he slept beside you on the floor to take care of you throughout the night, and I took the day shift."

Zero felt a sudden pang of affection for the chairman. Even after how horribly Zero treated him, he would always love and care for him like he was his real son. Cross was usually a constant source of headache for Zero, but these moments of caring completely made up for that, though he would never let the chairman know that.

Yagari chuckled at the conflicting emotions running across Zero's face. He ruffled Zero's silvery locks once again, eliciting a groan of annoyance from Zero at the patronization. "You're loved, kid—don't forget it." He turned and made for the door, but paused when his hand hit the doorknob. "Why don't you take it easy for the rest of today and get a bit more sleep. You guys did well on that mission, and you deserve the rest." With that, he walked through the door and softly shut it behind him.

Zero closed his eyes and took a deep relaxing breath, soon drifting pleasantly off to sleep.

o0o0o0o

Kaname shut the book he had been reading irritably. He had been a bit hungry before the mission had begun, and now it was beginning to make him extremely irritable. Blood tablets, of course, would satiate him momentarily, but in hardly any time, his hunger would be back with a vengeance. He could have certainly called one of the night class students to ease his pangs, and of course they would be all-too-happy to do so, but it somehow just felt…_wrong_. Purebloods could overcome immense hunger for hundreds of years at a time and remain intact, so why on earth did this little discomfort feel so completely unbearable? He sighed, re-focusing himself on the task at hand: the Level E with the crimson and blue eyes.

He had every reason to believe that that Level E was Rido. The eyes, Kaname's inexplicable headache, and then his inability to move—everything could be attributed to his monstrous uncle—everything except…the Es. There had to have been fifty of sixty Level Es in that sewer, not counting the other incidents. All together, that added up to be 200 Level Es, at the least, over the past three months. There was absolutely no way that just one vampire could create all those Level Es; the process to create even one took many hours and required a significant amount of energy on the pureblood's part if the Level E was going to be completely loyal to and controlled by the pureblood. For, it was all-to-easy for a pureblood to create a Level E, but if he wanted to have absolute control over the Level E's actions, he had to fuse a part of his essence to the E, a process which took time and a concerted effort from the pureblood. Thus, the only explanation for the massive amounts of Level Es would be that there was more than one pureblood at work. But this didn't explain the unfathomable cooperation amongst the Level Es; they were, by nature, solitary creatures, not accepting the presence of one, let alone fifty others, anywhere near it. The only possible way that they would tolerate it was if they were created by the same pureblood. But regardless their orders, they would kill any and every ex-human that was not created by their master. And not only were the Level Es in the sewer not killing each other, they were_ cooperating_. It was this that mystified him—massive amounts of Level Es working together as a cohesive unit, making them all-the-more dangerous.

Kaname threw his arm over his eyes with a groan as another protest from his empty stomach made itself heard, interrupting his concentration. He could take this no longer.

"Seiren." No sooner had he murmured this, than a woman with a blue bob cut silently appeared. "Fetch Ruka." The woman disappeared just as silently as she had come, and not long after another woman, this time with long, wavy caramel locks stepped into the room.

The woman had a slight blush across her cheeks as she bowed her head and waited for what she knew would come. And it did. She gasped as she felt fangs none-too-gently rip into her neck and begin to draw her blood at a merciless rate. But just as soon as it had begun, it ended. She frowned in confusion as she felt the fangs withdraw; when Kaname took her blood, it was always until she fainted. To have it end after just a few seconds was unheard of. Unexpectedly, a rich, silken voice whispered in her ear: "Thank you, Ruka. You may go now." She stumbled out the door, head still in a muddled mess.

When Ruka was a safe distance away, Kaname growled and sat back down on the couch. Strangely enough, Ruka's blood had not helped one bit—if anything, it had made his hunger worse. He groaned and closed his eyes. Maybe it was his mood that had affected the taste. But at any rate, it was of no use to sit around and be miserable; sleep was his best bet for relief, even if it was only temporary.

o0o0o0o

Kaname wasn't sure what time it was exactly, but his guess was that it was around two in the morning—high time for any normal vampire to be up. But seeing as how he had adjusted his schedule to accommodate the needs of the humans, he tended to be more diurnal than most vampires. So he had no idea why he was up. He was still overly tired, so _something_ must have woken him from- _Oh. _ He sniffed the air one more time to be sure. Yes, that was what had awakened him. Through his open window wafted a delectable scent that Kaname couldn't distinguish. It was familiar, certainly, but in his hungry state he was having trouble thinking straight, much less discerning scents. He couldn't explain, but…he _wanted_ it, whatever 'it' was. But 'want' wasn't the word for it, really. It was more of a beastly, carnal desire, an endless need so ingrained within him that it was impossible to deny himself of it.

So, half-awake, the pureblood rose from the couch and, ignoring the door, leapt out the window to find the source of the enticing aroma.

Takuma glanced up from the manga he had been reading. He squinted his eyes as he tried to see through the fog outside the window. If he wasn't wrong, that was Kaname leaping from rooftop-to-rooftop through the Academy; he would know that graceful gait anywhere. He frowned as he saw the pureblood jump down to a window and, after a few moments of apparent deliberation, climb inside. What business could he have with _that_ guy at 2 am? Takuma shook his head in bewilderment and returned to his manga, filing the information away for another time.

o0o0o0o

Zero cursed and shook his hand. He had been thirsty and had gotten up to get a drink, but in his sleepy state he had dropped the water glass, shattering it. He had sliced his finger open trying to clean up the mess. Flexing his finger experimentally, he hissed in pain. It looked like it was going to need wrapping, maybe even some stitches. He wasn't going to bother anyone with that at 2 am, though, so he reached into the cabinet for a wrap. Finally finding it, he undid the Velcro holding it closed and positioned his finger to be wrapped, only to drop the wrap in surprise. The cut that had previously marred his finger was now only a thin pink streak, which was fading even as Zero gazed. He shook his head in disbelief; he had never healed this fast, _ever._ It wasn't as if he wasn't glad, but the change certainly had to mean something. Was it that his descent to a Level E was finally upon him? He gave a sardonic grin; probably. But wouldn't that mean that his healing ability would _de_crease, not _in_crease?

A sudden noise from the bedroom stole him from his thoughts, and Zero rushed back to the bed and feigned sleep. He cursed under his breath when he realized that it was the window, and not the door, which had made the sound. Zero had assumed that it was Cross coming to check on him so, not wanting to worry his guardian further, Zero had pretended to sleep. But all that had accomplished was to leave Zero defenseless with his Bloody Rose all the way across the room while someone or something tried to open the window. Zero went rigid as the pane finally slid open and after a few moments, a tall, lean figure nimbly ambled through. The stranger stood up and glanced around the room with an absently disinterested air, slowly turning until his gaze fell directly on Zero. The thing's eyes were a bright, hungry crimson.

Kaname gazed at Zero's form in bed. Glancing at his face, he noticed in irritation that the hunter's silvery locks were obscuring his eyes from view, making it impossible to tell whether they were opened or closed. But Kaname closed his eyes and took a calming breath. What were the chances that Zero would be awake? Slim to none… Kaname stopped himself. Why was it imperative that Zero be asleep? It wasn't like Kaname wad going to do something regrettable; there was a perfectly legitimate reason that he was in Zero's room at 2 am…wasn't there? Kaname groaned combed his fingers through his hair; no, there was absolutely _no_ reason that he needed to be here. He had simply followed that luscious fragrance—which reminded him. He closed his eyes, focusing his senses once again on locating the scent. He took a step, then another, and one more and…he was standing at the foot of the hunter's bed.

Zero's heart skipped a beat for each step the vampire took nearer to his bed. It was remiss of him to leave his Bloody Rose on the other side of the room. So the fact that there was a bloodthirsty vampire between him and his only hope for a new lease on life was his own damn fault. If he moved or called out, the beast would kill him. So all Zero could do was lay there, pretending to sleep and hoping that something might distract the vampire so that the hunter could jump it and possibly get the upper-hand. But if worst came to worst, Zero wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Kaname leaned over the foot of the bed. He chuckled as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the headboard. Hair disheveled, clothes rumpled, blood-red eyes—it was a truly frightening sight. This side of him—this lustful, desirous, carnal side—was something he could never let anyone—least of all the nobles—see. It was not something that was acceptable for a pureblood such as himself. It was ironic, really, that such behavior was condemned so heavily in purebloods when it was they who were the most susceptible to it. Purebloods might hide this part of them, neatly tucked away, in public, but that certainly didn't mean it wasn't there.

Fangs throbbing painfully, Kaname brought one knee up on top of the bed, the other soon following. He bent down so his body was parallel with the hunter's, hands placed on either side of his head. After a moment of embattled deliberation, Kaname began to bend down, only to stop abruptly. He supposed he was being paranoid, but he just wanted to be absolutely careful. He placed his palm on Zero's forehead, murmuring "_Sleep_."

Zero panicked as the vampire slowly got up onto the bed and leaned over the hunter. However, just as Zero was about to strike out at the vampire, it set its palm gently on Zero's forehead. "_Sleep_," it murmured. _Shit_. Zero felt his eyes becoming unbearably heavy, and despite his unwillingness, he felt himself drifting peacefully off to sleep. But even as his mind drifted comfortably into unconsciousness, Zero felt something nagging at the edge of his mind. He knew that voice well, but he couldn't quite place it…

Now assured, Kaname leaned over Zero, his mouth edging ever-closer- He pulled back. He shouldn't be doing this—he _couldn't_ be doing this. He was a _pureblood_, for god's sake—he could have any vampire he wanted—any at all. So why would he choose the one vampire on earth who wouldn't willingly submit? He was the single vampire who would openly disrespect him, instead facing him full on, with not an ounce of fear in his beautiful, frightening, lilac eyes. But maybe…that was exactly why. Some deep, hidden part of Kaname yearned for this defiance—_needed_ this resistance. It fed his inner-beast, egged on the flames of irrationality and…he liked it. No being had puzzled or thrilled him as much as the insolent hunter had, and he quite enjoyed it. When one travelled the roads of eternity, life could lose its luster. But Kaname could spend forever and a day with Zero, and never grow bored or disinterested. Might he become irritated? Most likely. So absolutely enraged that he wanted wring the hunter's pale neck? Undoubtedly. But bored? Never.

An agitated shifting from below him brought Kaname out of his reverie. He checked apprehensively to see if the hunter's eyes were still closed, exhaling absently in relief when he saw that they were. The suggestion of sleep was a very fickle power and couldn't be used on the same person within one day, so if Zero woke up, that was that. His eyes trailed down to his hands, which had already brushed silvery locks away to expose the thin, pale column of flesh. Kaname wanted his—no, _needed_ his blood. He needed to sink his fangs into the soft skin, to feel the veins pulsating underneath his lips, and then to suck the hunter dry of every last drop of that precious crimson elixir. It had to be his starved state that was making him think like this—every scrap of rationality thrown out the window, to be replaced with a simple, burning desire. But why would he single out Zero? He had no idea. All he knew was that he needed his blood, but…was that all he needed from Zero? Kaname shook his head dismissively, focusing. Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it quickly and silently, lest he be discovered by Cross, or god forbid, Yagari. If Yagari opened the door to check on his former student, only to discover a pureblood vampire leaning over him and looking like a feral beast, he wouldn't ask questions, he would just shoot. Kaname stopped himself; they wouldn't discover him, not if he was quick. He would just lean over, and take a small drink, just enough for him to regain his senses, and then he would leave just as silently as he had come.

Bending down, he pulled one fang experimentally across the hunter's flesh. Kaname jerked back in alarm as Zero squirmed and gave a barely audible moan beneath him. Stiffening, Kaname waited, hardly breathing, for a full minute until he bent back over the hunter, reaffirming that he was indeed still asleep. He frowned, shaking his head in confusion. What had _that_ just been? An angry reaction, an alarmed reaction—sure, that was to be expected. But Zero's reaction hadn't been angry or alarmed—if anything, it was…endearing. However, 'endearing' was the last word Kaname would ever use to describe the hunter's normal attitude—insolent, rude, impertinent—those would all describe him quite well, in the pureblood's opinion. But endearing? _That_ was certainly new. Kaname chuckled. He would never have guessed that the hunter had this sort of…_wanton_ side to him.

Nevertheless, returning to the matter at hand, he sighed in frustration. The hunter was sleeping, but apparently he was still aware of touches, which was going to be a problem. But then again… Kaname grinned sadistically. It could be fun, seeing a hunter that was usually so fearsome so helpless and susceptible. He slowly dragged his tongue across Zero's neck, eliciting a moan that was quickly muffled by a firm hand over the hunter's mouth. Parting his lips just enough so that the cold, sharp tips of his fangs ghosted across the hunter's skin, Kaname's mouth followed the same pattern as his tongue had. Zero quivered twisted his head farther to the side with a breathy sigh, further exposing his neck to the pureblood's ministrations. This increased exposure sent Kaname over the edge. With a feral growl, he sank his fangs deep into the hunter's flesh and began to suck greedily. Zero's breath hitched and Kaname could feel the hunter's chest rising and falling erratically underneath his own.

It felt like only seconds before the pureblood felt the trembling form beneath him go limp, its breathing slowing to a normal pace. He knew he had taken a _lot_ more than just a "little drink"—obviously enough to push the hunter further down into unconsciousness. He reluctantly withdrew his fangs to assess the damage. The hunter's hair was disheveled and he was a bit paler than usual, but other than that, there was no way to tell that he had just been assaulted and forcibly partaken of by a vampire. Or was there? Panicked, Kaname bent over to examine Zero's neck. To his immense relief and slight bewilderment, there was absolutely nothing there. Bending up to view himself in the mirror above the headboard, Kaname finally took time to fix his hair and clothes. After a few moments of preening, his appearance was once again immaculate. He noted with satisfaction that his eyes had returned to their normal burgundy. The stabbing hunger was completely gone, replaced with a contented calm.

Kaname suddenly tensed as he heard footsteps approaching the room. Glancing over Zero one last time to make sure nothing was amiss, the pureblood jumped off the bed and leapt through the open window and into the night.

o0o0o0o

Zero's eyes flew open, only to find nothing, save obnoxiously bright light streaming through windows and curtains he was almost positive he had closed. He could have _sworn_ that there was a vampire crouched above him, but there was absolutely no trace of anything of the sorts. Could he have been imagining it? Maybe, but…it was doubtful. He sighed, dismissing the thought. He needed to get up and around; Yagari would surely be calling him soon for the follow-up meeting on the mission. Zero sat up and stepped out of bed, only to immediately have his legs collapse from beneath him, landing him directly in the neglected puddle of Cross's green concoction. Cursing his luck, he closed his eyes and leaning back against the bed to recuperate before attempting to get back up. He hadn't been feeling this tired yesterday—it was as if the sleep had sucked away his energy, rather than replenishing it. Groaning with the effort, Zero used the bed to pull himself up to a standing position, sighing as he heard the nauseating squelch of the now-sticky green goo coming off on his legs. He _really_ needed a shower. But as he leaned his elbows on the bed, preparing to fully stand up, he noticed something peculiar; a perfectly circular rust-colored mark stained the sunshine-yellow pillow. Zero frowned, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. It was…blood. He subconsciously reached his hand up to brush against the side of his neck, only to find that it was inexplicably sore. Pressing his palm against it, he felt only smooth, unmarred skin. He shook his head, dismissing it, and pushed himself up, carefully making his way to the bathroom for a much-needed shower.

o0o0o0o

Kaname paced slowly from one end of his bedchamber to the other with an agitated air. He felt wonderful and completely refreshed, but he was far from pleased with himself. How could he have given into his hunger like that? His flawless self-control—where had that gone? To do something so risky was not in his nature; he was simply not like that. Cautious, calculating, manipulative, cunning, certainly—but never hasty. He thought with his head—not with his stomach, his heart, or his groin—but with his head. …Or so he thought. Ever since that hunter had appeared, he had elicited nothing but unwanted emotions and uncharacteristic actions from the pureblood, and Kaname didn't like it one bit. He was supposed to be the perfect, well-mannered, all-powerful pureblood—the vampire of the vampires. But it wasn't exactly perfect, well-mannered, or all-powerful to sneak into an ex-human's room at night to secretly suck his blood. If the vampire world were to discover his actions of the previous night, it would be a political disaster. Needless to say, he could not afford to let himself to do anything like that again.

Kaname glanced up as the door to his chamber opened, and a distressed-looking Takuma stepped through. The pureblood looked questioningly at his childhood friend, waiting for an explanation.

Having been acknowledged, the blonde opened his mouth to explicate. "Yagari sent me to inform you that he needs to see you in his office immediately. It so happens that there was a…complication, and your mission is not quite finished. Zero is already there."

Kaname only nodded and turned on his heel to leap out the window, heading towards Yagari's office.


	5. Forensics

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all of you favorites, alerts, and of course lovely reviews. And thank you for all of you who have stuck with my this far! I would definitely give up if it weren't for you all! :3

I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! I feel terrible, making you all wait like this, but things just got away from me-I had a huge debate tourney, and I got a new computer (Mac, finally! :D), and this just got pushed to the back of my mind. But something I will try my hardest to make sure that I don't get delayed to terribly again! . And I'm sorry to do this to you guys again, but I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed today (scary :S), so I will be out of commission for a bit less than a week. But I guess you can thank my wisdom teeth for this chapter getting up today, since I worked pretty much the entire morning on this because I knew I wouldn't feel like writing for a while. :/

Something important: I will now be posting any delays or changes, or anything that regards the status of this story, and any future stories I might write (hah, I wish .) on my profile, so if my chapter isn't out yet and it should be, just check my profile to see why it isn't out yet and/or when you should expect it. I just thought that might be better that to leave you all hanging, wondering whether I'm alive or not.

And something else: For those of you who have been waiting oh-so-patiently for Zero to make his transformation into a pureblood, this will definitely happen, I promise, but you guys will have to wait just a bit more. It'll be worth it, though, I promise ;)

Disclaimer still stands, of course.

Read, review, and enjoy! :)

o0o0o0o

Kaname stepped through the door to Yagari's office to see that Zero was, indeed, already seated in front of Yagari's desk. The hunter was his usual obstinate and broody self, but although Zero was making an obvious effort to suppress it, Kaname could tell that he was feeling oddly lethargic. But it wasn't 'oddly', really—the pureblood knew exactly why the hunter was as tired as he was. A sudden pang of guilt coursed through him, but he pushed it away just as quickly. He was a pureblood, thus it was his right to take blood from whomever he pleased, whether or not the individual was aware of it. Nevertheless, it simply felt wrong, somehow—like something akin to rape. Groaning under his breath, he shoved the thought away and sat down in the chair to the left of Zero and across from Yagari.

Yagari was engrossed in examining a document, not noticing the pureblood's presence. Rather than interrupt him, Kaname chose to examine the room. The walls looked like they had originally been a bright, obnoxious yellow, but had been painted over with a coat of black, giving the peculiar illusion that the walls emanated a dark glow. The space was relatively small—each wall measured roughly ten feet, which made the space a bit too cramped to comfortably accommodate three people. The room's lack of space was only accentuated by the low seven-foot ceiling and the hulking desk in the center which, on its own, took up about half of the available space. Although the writing table was large, it was not ornate in the least; instead it was a rather simple rectangle of dark oak in a utilitarian style which was carried about throughout the enclosure. The only clutter in the entire room was the neat and careful stacks of paper that covered the desk. The room might have looked bigger, except the only window was covered in drapes, leaving the room to be illuminated by a single candle; Yagari hated fluorescent lights and refused to work by them. Absently, he wondered if the drapes were closed in consideration of his and Zero's…nature.

Kaname was pulled from his musings when Yagari-apparently done perusing the document-pointedly cleared his throat and began to speak. "This document here-" he held up the papers he had just been scanning, "-is a report sent in not an hour ago from the sewer in the very town that you both just left. Apparently, you didn't quite finish your job there, and there were still some Level Es. One of the cleaning crew is dead as a result."

At this, Zero interjected hastily. "But Yagari-we wiped the entire town of every single Level E."

Kaname uncrossed his legs and leaned closer to Yagari's desk, confusion lacing his features. "I would be inclined to agree. There were definitely no more Level Es anywhere near that town, and the smell of their blood would have scared away any other Es that might have been in the vicinity. Might the culprit have been a wild animal?"

Yagari shook his head, pulling a picture from a folder on his desk. "Does this look like an animal's doing?"

Kaname glanced at the photo and sighed in frustration. It was a blurry yet unmistakable figure of a dagger that was buried to the hilt in pale, dead flesh.

Pressing his lips together in surprised repugnance, Zero inwardly groaned. When a cleaning crew was dispatched, it was because the hunters had finished their task and eliminated all Level Es. The crew was not well-trained or -armed, so they were essentially betting their lives on how well hunters completed their jobs. Members of the cleaning crew rarely died, so for one to die on after one of his jobs? It was an utter disgrace and a discredit to his ability. Zero ran his fingers though his hair in an exasperated sigh and returned his gaze to Yagari. "So what do we do, then? Go back there and kill the Es?"

Yagari pressed his fingertips together and sat back in his chair. "In part, yes, you will. But it won't be so..." He stopped, pensive, as he searched for the right word. "...straightforward. I will have you briefed during the car ride."

Zero frowned; what wasn't straightforward about a Level E killing a human? Pushing the matter aside and taking the meeting as over, Zero pushed his chair back and stood up. However, his knees buckled and he unceremoniously fell face-first into the stone-laid floor.

Kaname's limbs moved of their own accord and before he realized it, he had picked Zero from the ground. Horrified at his uncharacteristic gesture, Kaname quickly took a step back, leaving the still-unsteady Zero to catch his balance on the back of the chair.

Zero was still surprised from his sudden fall. Shouldn't he be completely refreshed from his three-days-worth of sleep? He absently glanced at Kaname from the corner of his eye, only to see the pureblood quickly look away. He blinked in confusion, trying to confirm what he had just seen. Had the pretentious vampire just avoided his gaze? Cocking his head in confusion, Zero turned his gaze forward, only to meet the displeased glare of his former master.

"I thought I told you," Yagari began, crossing his arms across his chest, "to get some rest. Just what have you been doing?" The befuddled Zero began a sputtering denial, but Yagari stopped him short with an impatient wave of his hand. "I don't care. In any case, I believe that Kaname will have to handle things himself this time; you won't be going."

Zero scowled and stormed out of the room, though the effect was admittedly hampered by the unsteady wobble in his step.

Resting his forehead on his palm, Yagari sighed. "I apologize for him. But you really should go. A driver is waiting to take you back to the town."

Tersely nodding, Kaname stood up and stiffly walked out out the room. As he shut the door behind him, he sighed and leaned back against the wall. The reason Zero was too weak to go was him. He hand't been able to control himself and just look where it had gotten him. But most un-pureblood-like of all: he felt guilty. Remorse, shame, regret-these were all completely unbecoming of a pureblood, so why did he continue to feel them. He had actually avoided Zero's gaze earlier-to where had his proud demeanor gone? But shaking his head, he pushed off the wall and briskly made his way down the hall. He had only himself to blame for his situation. Besides, he should be able to handle himself perfectly-in fact, he should be joyously rid of that nuisance.

o0o0o0o

Kaname quietly thanked the driver and stepped out of the car. He had just completed the nine-hour car ride, and the return to the tiny town was not a good one. The place might have had a certain appeal, but every shred of that had been crushed after the solid night they spent annihilating the endless stream of ex-humans. The only good thing was that the entire day had been spent riding in the car, so it was now midnight-a kind respite from the abundant and offensive rays he had been forced to endure during his previous mission. He strode over to the small manhole and nimbly clambered down. He found himself in the very same chamber where the mob of Level Es had had their last stand against Zero and he just days ago. Needless to say, the familiarity was not comforting.

Kaname walked until he was in the center of the chamber and stood with his head bent and eyes closed-listening, waiting. Without warning, Kaname suddenly whipped his head and body around, cleanly severing the Level E's head from his body. Pausing for a few more moments but hearing and sensing nothing else, Kaname proceeded to the front left corner of the room, the place where the 'incident' was said to have occurred.

The first thing he noticed was that the huge vat which had previously been full of liquid and corpses was now tipped over, the liquid and corpses nowhere to be seen. Right in front of the overturned vat was a...mass, for there really was no other word to describe it. At one time, Kaname supposed that it had been a person, but now all that remained was the upper torso and the left arm, which clutched a dagger buried in its chest. The rest of its body looked as if it had turned to dust and crumbled away. With a sickening feeling, he realized that this must be the remnants of the cleaning crew. Kaname took out the camera Yagari had given him and snapped a few photos of the body; the investigator the Association had sent before him was too scared to spend the time to get a good shot. Besides, the photos would help him later when he was back at the academy; he would discover the truth behind this-he and Zero had done their jobs correctly the first time. Further examining the body, Kaname noticed that it was soaking in a puddle of the vile liquid from the vat. Also surrounding the body were two piles of ashes, which he supposed were the remnants of two Level Es that the cleaning crew had managed to kill before its demise. Kaname groaned; with the one Level E he had encountered before, plus the two the crew had killed meant that somehow, there was not just one, but three ex-humans that they had failed to dispose of. He glanced around quickly, checking one last time to see if there was anything he'd missed; there was nothing else that could be done, and he was all too ready to leave the wretched place.

Just as he was about to leave, however, he paused and walked over to the body and crouched down, taking two small vials from inside his jacket. He wasn't one to carry many personal effects around, but he had been conducting some experiments earlier in his lab to pass the time, so he still had in his pocket a few of the minuscule test tubes he had been using. First, he took some blood directly from the dagger wound in the body and corked the vial. He then scooped some of the liquid from the floor into the other vial; he could examine it later-it might prove to reveal something. As he lifted up the tube to push in the stopper, he nearly fell over as a putrid stench overcame him. Apparently the horrid reek he had first smelled as he entered the sewer had come directly from the strange liquid, and in the process of collecting it in the vial, he had once again stirred up its rancid miasma.

He stood up and walked around the room and even out into the corridor which led to it, perusing every nook and cranny, but he found nothing else amiss. Satisfied that he had examined everything, Kaname-liquid sample and pictures stowed safely in his coat pocket-climbed up and out of the sewer and into the waiting car that would take him back to the Academy.

o0o0o0o

Zero paced agitatedly back and forth across the small enclosure of the dorm room in which he had spent the past day-and-a-half. Thanks to his earlier bout of low blood pressure-or whatever had hit him-he was now under house arrest, courtesy of Yagari. His old master was apparently convinced that Zero had not yet rested enough, so Yagari had locked Zero in his room, with a student to guard his door and Yagari himself watching to prevent Zero from jumping out his third-story window, a feat he had performed often enough. He really had no idea why Yagari was so worried, though; Zero was already feeling completely fine.

He sauntered over to the door and pounded on it once with his fist for the fortieth time. "Oi! Let me out. Now." His voice was nearly at a shout, he was so exasperated.

The student gulped so loudly that Zero could even hear it through the door. "I...I'm afraid I can't do that, or Yagari-sensei said he would...I'm sorry!" The student sounded like he wanted to cry.

Growling and hitting the door once more in frustration, Zero stalked over to his window. Absently surprised, he noticed that the head bloodsucker had returned from his escapade and was now conversing with Yagari. His former master had his back turned away from Zero in order to speak with the pureblood, who's face Zero could see perfectly. He briefly considered trying to escape through the window while Yagari was distracted, but immediately pushed the thought away; he knew that he would notice him immediately. Seeing Yagari motion behind him in an absent gesture, he realized in irritation that the head of the council was informing the pureblood of Zero's current...situation.

To Zero's surprise, however, as Yagari continued to talk, Kaname looked up and directly at Zero, tilting his head slightly as if asking a question. Not knowing quite what to do, Zero only scowled back, garnering a silent chuckle from the brunet. Rolling his eyes, Zero turned away from the window and laid down on his bed, waiting for whatever the pureblood was planning to play out.

A quiet knock at his door woke Zero from the light doze he had slipped into during the wait. Sitting up a bit groggily, he glanced over with little surprise to see Kaname standing beside his now-open door. Standing up, he raised an eyebrow and voiced a single question. "Why?"

Kaname grinned. "I would imagine it's because you have something that I need, while I have something that you need."

"What could you possibly have that I would need?"

Kaname stepped aside, allowing Zero a perfect view of the open window in the empty dorm room across the hall. "Freedom."

Zero looked suspiciously from the window back to Kaname. "What would I have to do?"

"I merely require your services to complete the mission; I need your expertise as a hunter. It's a more than fair offer, considering that this your mission as much as it is mine."

Zero frowned; that really completely fair-Kaname was basically helping him to get Zero to do something he was going to do anyway. But he dismissed the confusing thought and dashed through the open door and out the window in the vacant room.

As soon as Zero was out of the room, Kaname's brows furrowed in frustration. He really didn't know why he was doing this; it was completely out of his character to help someone without any significant benefit to himself. He knew that if he had waited a few more hours, Yagari probably would have released Zero of his own accord, so why was Kaname going to all the trouble of helping Zero to escape? What's worse, was that when he had first seen Zero just a few minutes ago, some small part of him had been overjoyed. Could he, a pureblood vampire possibly enjoy the company of an arrogant, foul-mouthed ex-human? He shook his head, dismissing the ridiculous notion and stepped across the hall and out the window to meet the ex-human that circumstances required that they...cooperate. Cooperate, and nothing more.

o0o0o0o

Zero sat back in the ornate wooden chair and crossed his legs, examining the room with barely concealed awe. After he and Kaname had escaped through the window, he'd followed him through a small backdoor into the Moon Dorms, where they followed a short tunnel to arrive in what Kaname called his 'lab'. But it looked more like a combination of the science departments of every major university than just a simple 'lab'. There were all kinds of intricate and mysterious machines and devices that filled the seemingly intricate space, and Zero had a feeling that Kaname could name and flawlessly operate each one. Peering farther into the lab, Zero saw a few ancient- and mystical-looking instruments which appeared equally complex as the modern ones. Glancing over at Kaname, he watched the pureblood place a small test tube full of some mysterious liquid in a small metal rack and begin to combine it with other substances using an eyedropper and scoopula as necessary. He furrowed his brow at the actions; he hadn't exactly pegged the pureblood as interested in science. Zero had never really been much for science, himself. Yes, he would always make A's, but he really didn't see the point; he deemed knowing how to kill a Level E quite a bit more important than understanding how DNA used hydrogen bonds.

Kaname looked up at Zero, answering the questioning look on the latter's face. "It's merely a hobby of mine-something I picked up within the last couple hundred years, or so. It's rarely useful." He stopped, thinking, then chuckled to himself. "I suppose you could call it a 'guilty pleasure'?"

Zero rolled his eyes. Leave it to a pureblood to consider something intellectual a 'guilty pleasure'. His guilty pleasure was- He stopped, scratching his chin. Come to think of it, he didn't really have a guilty pleasure. Frowning, he shook his head, looking for some way to divert the conversation. "So, why do you use science at all when you could use magic?"

Not looking up, Kaname replied in an indifferent voice. "Unknown magical compounds can be unstable when explored using magic. That's where science becomes necessary. But like I said, I rarely get the opportunity to make use of it." He dipped a small red strip of paper in the solution, and upon pulling it out, discovered that it was blue. "Base," he announced. "This confirms it; the solution is primarily blood."

"The cleaning crew's?" suggested Zero.

Kaname frowned, shaking his head. "That's what I thought at first, but it had no traces of the cleaning crew's blood." He held up another vial of fluid. "I had the blood taken directly from the body, thinking that might be the case, but two fluids have nothing in common." Resting his head on his fist pensively, he began to absently glance around the room, his eyes eventually resting on five pale lines across Zero's neck. Kaname frowned in perturbation at the damage that just one swipe of a Level E's claws could do... It was at that moment that something that had been nagging at the back of his mind came into consciousness. Why would a Level E use its dagger when its claws could do so much more damage? He pulled out a picture he had taken of the dagger. If he wasn't mistaken...

"Kiryu. Do you recognize this dagger?"

Zero looked only momentarily at the picture before he nodded. "Of course. That's the standard-issue dagger for every Association member. Even the cleaning crew is required to carry and be able to use them."

Kaname inclined his head. That explained the two piles of ash beside the body. "And there was only one person who came to clean up the mission, correct?"

Zero raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah." Where was he going with this?

"And why was that?"

"Short-handed, I guess. They usually work in pairs, and the only reason they wouldn't is if the Association was under-staffed."

"Then it was suicide," he announced triumphantly. "It wasn't a murder, but suicide." Upon Zero's look of utter befuddlement, Kaname smirked. "Think about it. First of all, why would a Level E use a dagger when its claws are so much more effective? They wouldn't. Thus, the only likely option is that a human performed the act-or more precisely, a member of the Association." He held up the picture and pointed at the dagger. "Vampires couldn't even touch the dagger because of that anti-vampire magic of which you hunters are so fond, and normal humans instinctively avoid anything to do with vampires. In addition, since the Association was wanting for staff, any member who hadn't been present at their assignment would have been sorely missed, and there were no reports of other missing staff. Thus, the only option was that the cleaning crew committed suicide." Kaname paused, his brow furrowing. "The only question is why."

Zero narrowed his eyes in a ferocious glare that would have sent any normal person running for cover. Nevertheless, Kaname met his stare evenly. Zero growled and tossed his head to the side. "Hunters aren't so mentally unstable that they'd kill themselves."

The pureblood raised a delicate eyebrow in disbelief. "...says the suicidal hunter."

"...extenuating circumstances."

"And what might those be?"

Zero turned his head to look at Kaname. He curled his lips back, displaying his fangs with a sardonic sneer.

"Of...course." Kaname cocked his head, narrowing his eyes in thought. "You've turned into the very thing you hunt. You, yourself, are now the hated beast, and you can't handle the thought, am I right?"

Zero tensed, digging his nails into the wood of the armrests in an effort to control himself. Lashing out would do him no good-probably just land him back under dorm arrest, if anything-but the bastard was really testing his patience. "I guess," his strained voice came out as barely a whisper, "you are."

Kaname inclined his head slowly, pursing his lips in deliberation. In a sudden spark of comprehension, he lifted the photo to eye level. Covering the bottom half of the picture, he showed the bloodied though mostly intact torso of the dead cleaning crew to Zero. "To what would you say these remains belong?"

Zero rolled his eyes, then let his gaze fall to the ground. "Human."

Kaname turned around, so his hands were out of Zero's range of sight and made motions as if he were changing photos. However, he merely moved his hand so it obscured all in the original photo but the legs of the victim. Or, where the legs used to be, at least; there was now scattered only scattered plumes of dust. He turned it back so Zero could see the uncovered portion. "And these?"

Zero glanced up, an utterly uninterested look covering his features. "Ex-human." Kaname's hand then moved, and the entire photo was revealed. Zero's eyes widened. "No-that's completely impossible. How could the change have happened that fast?"

"I have..." the pureblood hesitated, searching for a word, "...a theory. I believe that the substance that was in the vat might have had something to do with it."

Zero snorted, standing up from the chair. "Right. It was some magical radioactive substance that caused the crew to mutate? If you're not going to take this seriously, Kuran, I'm leaving." He turned to walk away, but was restrained by a firm grasp. He glanced down to see pale, slender fingers wrapped unyieldingly around his wrist. Gaze making its way up the long arm, it eventually came to rest upon the unamused face of the pureblood.

"I would appreciate," he pushed Zero back down into the chair and leaned in to whisper in the already flustered hunter's ear, "if you would just listen." He grinned triumphantly at the audibly quickened heartbeat below him, and pulled away in one smooth movement.

"Now, as I was saying, based on the results from the tests, I suspect that the vat's liquid is mostly blood-a very specific type; for the blood to have transformed the human, it would have had to be that of a pureblood; there is no other option. The solution would also have to contain poison from the pureblood's fangs, for it is that which ultimately causes the transformation. "

Still flustered from the unexpected contact, Zero could only mange a mumble of, "That's ridiculous." Zero turned his head away in vexation at the sound of his own feeble voice. That horrid pureblood's actions were unnecessary, to say the least. He didn't know why it was, but it was ridiculously hard to focus whenever the brunette got too close. His eyes flickered back to focus on the pureblood once more, causing Zero to groan inwardly at the involuntary movement. Actually, he could focus just fine, it was just the subject matter that concerned him.

With slight amusement, Kaname watched Zero scowl and shift in his chair-apparently engaged in some internal battle. Normally, he wouldn't permit someone to interrupt him like Zero had before, much less twice, both times within minutes of each other, no less. Really, if it had been any other person, he would probably be less a limb. But with Zero, he viewed situations in an almost completely different way-more patience, maybe? Yes, he decided, that must be it-he was tolerant with the hunter because of his feeble ex-human status. With a bit of reluctance at disrupting the entertaining scene before him, Kaname cleared his throat, bringing Zero's attention back to him. "To return to where we were-I do, in fact, believe that it can be done. There is magic that would give one the ability to do that-to a certain extent and with various restrictions, of course, but it is entirely possible."

Zero quirked his head; all this magic business was incredibly illogical. "So why doesn't every pureblood do this, then, instead of creating Level Es by hand?"

"It's just not the same," Kaname murmured with an evil smirk, "as sinking your fangs up to the hilt in human flesh." He snickered at the shudder that ran through Zero's frame. "But keep in mind," he said, face losing all playfulness, "that if one could even find the spell to do it, it would take a great deal of skill to perform it. That means that whatever pureblood is behind this is old and powerful-something to be wary of."

Zero sighed in resignation. It was vampires, so of course they weren't logical. "Alright, let's say that is what happened. What does this have to do with the corpse, then?"

"This relates to the corpse because I believe that it killed itself because it was transforming into an ex-human. It had the fluid surrounding its body-maybe it accidentally tipped over the vat, exposing itself to the liquid, which could only partially transform it, before it killed itself. Not only does it explain its death and missing lower body, but it explains why the three corpses which were originally in the vat had disappeared, and why instead there were three Level Es."

Zero was at a loss for words. Though he had seen the pictures, he hadn't noticed that the corpses were, indeed missing. Kaname had told him, also, of the two dead Level Es on the floor, and the one he killed when he entered the sewer. Regardless of his knowledge of all this, however, he hadn't had even the slightest clue what had happened. He glanced over at the placid-looking pureblood and shook his head in disbelief; despite the brunet's horrible personality, the vampire really was in a league all of his own.

"But how long does it take for the fluid to work completely?" Kaname scowled, picking his brain for clues to the answer.

"And who's behind it?" Zero added absently.

Kaname nodded, darkly pensive. "I do have some ideas about that, but we'll have to investigate more before we make any accusations." He glanced to his side, out a small window through which the dark orange light of the afternoon poured. Making a small exclamation at the sight, Kaname turned to address Zero. "I think we've done all we can here; Yagari should be looking for you soon-you should probably go before he discovers you missing." He watched the hunter's silver hair almost instantly disappear around the corner. He rolled his eyes; was he really so eager to leave? Flicking his eyes once more to the window, he stood up and, stretching his mildly stiff legs, headed back towards his bedchamber, so as to get a bit of rest before night classes began.

o0o0o0o

Kaname opened the doors to his bedchamber, taking a slow, deep breath, enjoying the air; he always kept some sort of incense in his room to help soothe him after lengthy days of dealing with imbeciles-today's scent was lavender, if he remembered right. Today had been a long day of quite a considerable amount of thinking, and he was a bit travel weary, as well. Almost mechanically, he stripped of his clothes and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up around him. When he shifted, however, he heard something crinkle under his back, and he sat up with a groan, pulling a slightly-crumpled envelope from beneath him. Opening it, he scanned the contents and quickly discerned that it was an invitation to a ball, hosted by his old acquaintance Count Montserrat Cristo. Though he was glad to hear from Montserrat for the first time in years, the invitation really couldn't have come at a less opportune time, so he would most likely have to reject it. As he stuffed the invitation back into the envelope, however, he noticed a second envelope, behind the first. Shifting it to the front, he read the addressee. Kaname frowned, squinting to make sure he was seeing things right. The second invitation...was addressed to Zero?


	6. The Count's Ball

A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while! I don't really have any excuse for my lack of work ethic, except to day that it's summer, so my brain has been on holiday. I can say, though, that the lat few reviews I received in my inbox were what finally made me get out my computer and finish this thing! (thanks as always, everyone! :3) Oh, and also, you guys might have noticed that after I said that I would update the status of my chapters on my profile page, I didn't even do it until this month. But don't worry, I will actually update it now (probably).

Also, I'd like to apologize in advance, because althoug I seriously liked this chapter, the ending kinda sucks, and not even in a good way. That is just another side-effect of my laziness, because right now I am about to board my plane (cruise up the east coast-yay!), so I just cranked it out as fast as I could, which means that the last quarter is in complete raw form, and not even edited-as-I-went, like I usually do. My laziness also means that this whole chapter is not yet reviewed by my RL beta reader. But hey, it was either wait ten days and post the edited version, or post the un-edited now. But, I promise that as soon as I can have my beta reader review this, I'll post a new version (should be a couple of week at most).

But anyway, I've been rambling on enough, so read, review, and enjoy! :D

o0o0o0o

Zero scowled as Takuma had him hold his arms outstretched on either side, then proceeded to measure the span and record the number on a small pad of paper already filled with the measurements of various lengths and sections of his body. "I still don't understand why this is absolutely necessary." He heaved an irritable sigh. "I mean, can't you just use the old measurements?"

The blonde smiled good-naturedly, shaking his head. "Like I said, Cross saw that you needed a new school uniform, but he wanted to make sure the measurements would be right, so he asked me to check that you hadn't grown."

Crossing his arms in indignation , Zero's scowl deepened. "Not in one month, I haven't."

Smiling again, Takuma only shrugged and bent to measure the obstinate hunter's legs. In actuality, Zero was right in his suspicions; he wasn't being measured for a new school uniform. For whatever reason, Kaname had asked Takuma to fabricate a lie in order to hide what the pureblood was actually planning; Zero would have never acquiesced if he knew that the order came not from Cross for a school uniform, but was a commissioning from Kaname. The school uniform had been Takuma's own idea-and a rather good one, in his opinion-but even so, the headstrong hunter was still managing to make it difficult for him. With all the persuading he had had to do in the past-he checked his watch-two-and-a-half hours, Kaname would certainly owe him. He stood up, to see the hunter still frowning. "Now say...'Banzai!'"

After a deliberate pause, Zero slowly lifted his hands above his head, his previous frown now transformed into a dead stare.

Takuma pouted, making sure Zero heard his mumble of, "Spoilsport!" as he took the final chest measurements.

o0o0o0o

Kaname dropped a blood tablet into a wine glass filled with water, uninterestedly watching as is dissolved and quickly stained the water crimson. He absently took a sip, but quickly made a face and set it down; lately it had been getting harder and harder for him to stomach the awful tablets. Luckily, however, he wasn't particularly hungry; besides, he had much larger issues on his mind, namely, Montserrat's invitation for Zero. It wasn't as if the information was a secret, but it wasn't exactly common knowledge that the vampires of the council were paired up with the hunters from the organization, much less exactly who was paired up with who. And regardless of how the Count came to acquire that knowledge, came the question of why he cared enough to invite Zero to his ball; though Monserrat was not one to discriminate, it was still unheard of to invite a vampire hunter to ball as a guest, especially one who was an ex-human. There was definitely something more to the invitation, though exactly what he hadn't an idea. After a discussion with Yagari and a lengthy session of internal deliberation, he decided that the best thing to do would be to accept the invitation to the ball, but keep alert for any signs that the friendly invitation was something more sinister. Secretly though, Kaname was glad; this would be a chance to see the kind old vampire who took care of him for most of his youth. He was also anticipating Zero's reaction when Kaname presented to him what he was having commissioned...but only a bit. The only question was, how he would possibly get the hunter to cooperate?

o0o0o0o

It had been almost a week since that long, god-awful fitting session and during that time, not one bit of vampire-related work had popped up; Zero hadn't event been sent to dispose of a single Level E. However, while this should have felt like a kind respite, it somehow left him feeling a bit trapped. He had spent most of the past week moping about the academy grounds and his room, which was where he currently was; he really was quite eager to get back to hunting, especially the kind he had been doing lately. The messes he had gotten into while partnered seemed to be getting increasingly messy; if anything, he had to thank the pureblood.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Zero, however, ignored it, instead walking over to his bed and laying down on top of the covers to take a quick nap; it was probably just Cross coming to check up on him for the umpteenth time today. He growled in annoyance as the knocking persisted. "Go the hell away, Cross!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut and turning his head into the pillow. He nearly jumped from the mattress, however, as a dark, silken voice spoke from across the room.

"That's not very nice, now is it? And I was trying to be polite too, using the door."

Still rattled, Zero slowly opened his eyes and sat up to see the source of that voice sitting at Zero's desk in the opposite corner of the room, legs comfortably crossed and eyebrows raised in amusement as if he had been there all along.

Zero grimaced. "Kuran."

"A brilliant observation, certainly, but I'm afraid we have more pressing business to attend to." The tall brunet silently stood, then motioned towards the window. "We have a mission."

Before he could stop himself, Zero flew off the bed and jumped out the window behind Kaname. Once on the ground, the pureblood motioned to an idling limousine, the driver standing beside and open door, waiting for them to get in. Zero frowned in confusion; the limousine wasn't the standard dark grey of the Association, but rather a glossy black. Upon closer inspection, there was something strange about the driver, as well... However, the excitement of the mission overcame him and, ignoring the oddities, he entered the limousine, with Kaname following suit. Once they were safely in, the driver started the car, driving out the academy gates and continuing down the road. After about thirty minutes, the car turned off the main thoroughfare and onto a small, rocky dirt road that Zero was surprised the limousine could navigate. From pacing around his room all day, however, the hunter was beginning to get sleepy, and before he could stop himself, started to doze off. A sudden bump on the road caused the car to jump, unceremoniously jolting Zero from sleep. Absently, he glanced out the window. Though it felt like he was asleep for only a few minutes, the settings had completely changed; to his alarm, he realized he had no idea where he was. Turning to his side, he raised a suspecting eyebrow and voiced the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind for the entire trip. "Just what exactly is this mission?"

Kaname, however, merely held up a silencing finger, instead leaning up to the driver. "Here would be fine."

The driver nodded, and the car rolled to a smooth stop.

The pureblood then reached underneath his seat, and pulled out a nondescript white box and handed it to Zero.

Zero cautiously took the box. Upon lifting the lid, he found a neatly folded lilac silken shirt; underneath it, he saw a deep gray waistcoat and two-piece suit. He scowled and was about to shove it back, but the pureblood put a restraining hand on his arm.

"We are currently somewhere within the property owned by a very old friend of mine. In about-" Kaname glanced down at his watch, "-four minutes, his guards will come by on their hourly rounds of the property. Being the somewhat intellectually challenged individuals that they are, they will attack anyone and everyone who is not their master. They, much like yourself, think with their guns rather than their heads; no questions-just shooting. However, you," he reached into his coat pocket to pull out Zero's Bloody Rose, "might find it a bit difficult to think with your gun this time." The pureblood grinned sadistically as the silver-haired hunter's eyes widened in horror. "You have a simple choice: put on the suit, or take your chances with the guards." He smirked triumphantly as, after a few moments of embattled deliberation, Zero dashed out of the car and into the bushes, obscured from view.

Zero pulled on the suit as best he could-he had never worn this particular type of suit before, usually opting for something more modern and simple; he hated superfluous things-and dashed back to the car. Apparently somewhere in between the time where Zero had left and returned to the car, Kaname had somehow put on his own suit. Upon closer inspection, he realized that is was in the exact same style as the one he currently wore, the only difference was that the lilac and dark grey were replaced with an intense shade of crimson and satiny black. Returning to the matter at hand, however, Zero held out his hand, a filthy glare on his face.

Rolling his eyes, Kaname placed the Bloody Rose in the outstretched palm. "I took it while you were sleeping. You looked-and were-quite defenseless."

Snorting, Zero pulled back the handle and grasped it, relieving some of his tension. Automatically, he pulled back his jacket front to stow away his Bloody Rose, and was surprised to see a gun-shaped pocket, next to it a long chain, perfect to which to attach the Bloody Rose. Putting the gun away, he readjusted in his seat, pensive. Now that he thought of it, the suit did fit rather well-uncannily well, actually. He turned to the pureblood. "Those measurements Takuma did were for this, weren't they?"

"Indeed."

"So then you've planned this?"

"Yes. Quite a bit, actually."

Zero scowled; so all this was actually premeditated, not just a whim that had come over the infernal pureblood. "I'm guessing then that this won't be a normal mission?"

Kaname smirked. "You would guess correctly then. Do you see the castle over there?" He pointed far ahead in the direction the car was moving. "We're going to attend the ball of Count Montserrat Cristo. This," he motioned in the air, "is one of his personal limousines he sent, if you haven't noticed already."

So that was it; it explained the different style. Looking more closely, too, Zero realized that the driver was, in fact, a vampire-something he should've picked up on earlier. Being around the awful bloodsuckers so much must have desensitized him; was he really beginning to feel comfortable around these monstrosities?

Kaname uncrossed his legs and sat up in the seat. "Ah, here we are."

Zero looked out the window; the limousine had come to a stop in front a huge gray castle that looked like it had come straight from the pages of a storybook. He half-expected a purple dragon to pop up and breathe fire at them. Instead of dismissing the thought, however, he checked the surroundings once more, just in case; the castle did belong to a vampire, after all. Zero was interrupted from his musings, however, as the driver opened the door and Zero automatically stepped out, Kaname following. Hulking over them was the castle, its drawbridge down to let them safely walk across the 20-foot-wide moat that encircled the castle. He was about to step on it, when the pureblood held out a restraining hand in front of him. Glancing at the brunette with a mixture of aggravation and curiosity, he spat, "What?"

Kaname cocked his head, seemingly befuddled. "The gardens-they're dead."

Zero rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah, well I guess he forgot to water them, now let's go and get this over with." He lifted a foot to take a step, but was once again restrained.

The pureblood was still rooted to the spot. "No, no. When I was a child, they were always green and lush. He would sooner die than let them wither..." He might've continued, but just then he heard a car pull up a ways behind them. Turning, he saw the door to a black limousine open, out of it stepping more guests to the ball. Seemingly released from his befuddlement, he put the hand he'd held in front of Zero down, and strode forward. "We'll attract attention here. We should continue on into the castle."

Taking a few long strides to come up make up for the pureblood's head start, Zero continued down the drawbridge with an annoyed huff. They soon came up to the actual door, where they saw standing the usher. Surprisingly enough, however, it was a 'she'. Nevertheless, she wore a butler's coat and a top hat, with no hair showing underneath. When they closer, she smiled, bowing politely.

"Hello, Kuran-sama and..." She paused and looked into Zero's eyes with a sudden and startling intensity that belied her meek appearance. She stared for a number of seconds, but just as abruptly as it had begun, it ended, and she smiled, satisfied somehow, and returned her gaze to the ground. "...Kiryu-sama. Please do enjoy Count Montserrat Carlo-sama's ball."

Zero shuddered. He felt like he had just been released from some sort of entrapment; he had been unable to look away from the discomforting gaze of that odd usher. However, even though they had been locked in a stare, he hadn't really seen her eyes. Not as if he just hadn't been paying attention, but as if there...weren't any? He really didn't know, and shoved the thought out of his mind as they entered into the castle.

The decoration was what he had come to know as 'standard vampire'-an assortment of styles ranging from early Renaissance to early Victorian. It wasn't in awful taste, but it was overly grandiose in Zero's opinion. They walked through a long hallway; he could hear a string quartet playing a waltz somewhere far ahead, and sure enough, when they finally reached the end, they found themselves at the edge of a gigantic dance hall. All available was space seemingly filled by all degrees of vampire nobles, a few of which, Zero was surprised to find, he actually recognized from previous balls; however most looked completely unfamiliar. They both stopped to quickly survey the area.

Kaname turned somberly to whisper in Zero's ear. "I believe something is amiss here. What, I don't know, but be on your guard."

Zero shoved him away. "I don't need you to tell me that."

The pureblood shrugged, walking out into the dance hall. Almost immediately, all the nobles seemed to realize all at once that a pureblood had arrived, and not three seconds later, as many as could fit had shoved into a tight circle around Kaname. Zero saw him flash a disarmingly charming smile, making the ladies swoon and the men stare wide-eyed in awe. Rolling his eyes, Zero proceeded in the opposite direction into the hall, subconsciously heading towards a table towards the back that seemed to be serving refreshments. On it was a large bowl of what looked like punch, with empty champagne flutes in rows beside it. He began to reach for a flute, when a voice chimed out from behind him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You try not to drink blood much, right?" The voice was pretty and delicate, like a small silver bell, but was somehow subtly chilling, as well.

Alarmed, Zero whipped around, right hand already reaching inside the gun-shaped pocket in his suit. What he saw, however, was the usher from before. Though if one didn't look closely, she wouldn't have been recognizable at all; she had changed from the butler's suit into a beautiful olive-green ball gown and long, elegantly-styled chocolatey-brown hair cascaded down her back. Whereas Zero previously couldn't discern the color of her eyes, he could now tell that they were very obviously a warm mahogany. Her appearance was somehow both familiar and comforting, but there was still something just a bit off, though Zero couldn't really put his finger on it.

The girl giggled. "You're staring. You like?"

Zero started, frowning. Had he been staring?

She smiled, a few more chuckled escaping her lips. "The dress, I mean. You don't have to be so uptight, silly!" She turned back towards the center of the hall, as a slower waltz began to play, then faced Zero again, a playful smile on her face. "Well? Aren't you going to ask me to dance?"

Zero's frown only deepened; he really couldn't stand people who were upfront like this. He began to shake his head and back away, but the girl only grabbed his hand and placed it on her waist.

"Oh, come on. It will be fun!" She pulled him towards the other dancing pairs of vampires.

Zero resisted a moment more, but acquiesced. If they had been anywhere else, he would have shoved her away immediately, but he knew that Yagari would kill him if he made a scene at a vampire ball. He let his body go on autopilot as they began to dance; even though he was technically in the leading position, he let the girl take charge of their direction; he might be forced to go through the motions, but no one could make him put in effort.

The girl grimaced as she saw that Zero had no intention of making conversation, but quickly regained her composure. "So I saw that you came in with Kaname Kuran-sama, is that right, Ze-ro?" She enunciated both syllables in a bright sing-song voice.

He scowled in disdain; she was so familiar, even though they hadn't known each other for more than five minutes. Which reminded him. "How do you know my name? It's not as if I'm famous, so why would a vampire like you know my name?"

She seemed to freeze for a moment, vaguely reminiscent of a deer in the headlights. Nevertheless, so quickly that Zero wasn't sure what had just happened, her mouth curved back up into a cheery smile as if nothing had ever been wrong. "Well, what kind of usher would I be if I didn't know the guests' names, silly?"

Zero raised an eyebrow. "If you're such a devoted usher, then, why aren't you still at the door to greet the guests?"

This time she replied without missing a beat. "Well, all the guests have already arrived, so my kind master let me go to enjoy myself tonight."

Somehow, he found that a bit hard to believe. Weren't ushers supposed to stay at the door regardless? Ah, but who was he to judge vampire etiquette? It was a world he didn't know-nor did he care to.

"But enough about me." She flipped her hair and betted her eyes, something Zero found slightly repulsive and entrancing at the same time. "Let's talk about you! Let's start with the reason why an active young vampire hunter like you would be so close with a frumpy old

He though briefly on whether or not he should tell the truth. Some distant internal voice nagged at him that he shouldn't, but, well, what could the harm be? For some reason, he just felt extremely at ease with the strange girl. But more importantly, did she just call Kaname frumpy? There were many words that might describe him-a great majority of them unflattering-but 'frumpy'? Probably not. But old? Come to think of it, he was probably older than the castle they were standing in now. Regardless, weren't vampires supposed to show purebloods the utmost respect? He forced himself to stop; it was making his head hurt. There really couldn't be all that much harm in answering her casual questions, could there? "We're working together."

"Oh, I'm so sorry-that must be such a drag." She pouted, showing her sympathy.

"Well, no, it's actually-" Zero stopped mid-sentence. Just what was he about to say? Nice? Enjoyable? Well, he had to finish his sentence now; he decided to go with a neutral word. "-fine."

"Oh, well I'm sure you're just being polite. But I like that in a man." She giggled. "So, like you were saying, you're 'working together'?"

"Eh, we were sent on a mission to-" However, at that moment, an arm encircled his waist and pulled him backwards and into what seemed like a solid brick wall. He reached up to grab his Bloody Rose, only to have his hand pinned to his chest by yet another arm. The hunter felt a chin rest upon his shoulder, as a silken voice murmured near his ear.

"I'm afraid, madame, that there had been some sort of misunderstanding."

Zero groaned; it was Kaname. Taking a deep, calming breath, he resisted the urge to struggle; he had flawlessly avoided attracting unnecessary attention up until now, and he was not about to let that change. No, he would simply wait and see how this played out.

The man with whom you were dancing just a moment ago is actually my companion." The arms around Zero's torso tightened as if for emphasis. "He managed somehow to slip away from me, but thankfully I've found him. I am terribly sorry for any trouble he's caused you, but-" To Zero's utter horror, the pureblood then playfully nipped at Zero's ear. "-I'll be taking him off your hands now."

Zero shook with a mixture of something akin horror and rage. Whether he made a scene or not, he wasn't going to take this. Discreetly adjusting his stance so his his foot would hit the intended mark, he whipped his heel up with as much force as he could manage. However, a force swept his leg aside as the arms encircling him disappeared; suddenly off-balance, Zero felt himself plummet, helpless, towards the ground. At what seemed like the last possible second, the pureblood reached down to stop his fall, lifting his torso up so they were back in the position in which they had been originally.

Kaname once again placed his head over Zero's shoulder-this time, digging in almost painfully with his chin. "My, my," he murmured, "so feisty; you should save that for tonight, though." He lifted his eyes so they met the girl's, nearly boring holes through her very skull with each blink. After a few seconds of silence, he flashed a humorless smile.

The girl, whose mouth had been slightly agape ever since Kaname had grabbed Zero, now seemed to get the hint, and walked dazedly off.

Before Zero could react, the pureblood shifted his head to speak into his ear. "If you try to kick me again I won't catch you when you go toppling towards the floor."

The hunter grimaced; he knew full well that was true. That, plus the fact that his arms were pinned to his chest left him with basically no options. Other than to stand there. Yagari was seriously going to owe him for managing to put up with this harassment. He sighed resignedly. "Are you done now?"

"Not quite yet." He was staring straight ahead into the distance, where a group of ten or so extravagantly-dressed women mulled about, chattering amongst themselves, occasionally stealing a pouty glance over at the pureblood. Kaname shut his eyes and turned his head so his cheek was resting on Zero's shoulder, and his face turned in towards the other's neck. "They positively wouldn't leave me alone, even after I told them that I already already had a companion for the party. I don't think they believed me."

That was his excuse. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure they believe you now." Zero felt the pureblood heave a silent sight against his back.

"I suppose you're right."

The hunter cocked his head. Was it just him, or had there been a note of dissatisfaction-almost to the point of a whine-in the pureblood's reply just then?

Kaname felt the confusion emanating from the hunter he currently grasped; honestly, if the hunter had turned around, he would have seen the very same expression of bewilderment on the pureblood's face as well. He hadn't missed the complaint layered within his own reply either, he just hadn't the slightest idea why it was there in the first place-he certainly hadn't intended it. However, even though this lapse of self-control would have normally irritated him to no end, he didn't seem to be overly concerned about it, which only served to concern him.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the head of the party. "Ladies and gentlemen-your attention, if I may."

It took Zero a few moments to locate the source of the voice, but eventually he found it: a short, rotund man standing on a small balcony far above the party. From his lower face, he guessed that the man was the vampire equivalent of a 70-or-so year-old human. The top half of his face, however, was obscured by a rather large and unseemly feathered hat. Zero turned to the pureblood beside him. "Who is he?"

Kaname didn't turn to face Zero, but instead smiled fondly up at the old man on the balcony. "He is the owner of the castle in which you stand-Count Montserrat Cristo."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "So you know him, I'd guess?"

This time Kaname did turn to meet Zero's gaze, however, his eyes still remained in a slightly distant haze. "Ah, yes. When I lost my parents, he was like a father to me-caring for me and teaching me the ways of vampire society, before Asato Ichijou took me in, of course. It was also he who taught me that vampires could be kind, despite their nature, and that not all humans are to be hated..." He trailed off into a contented silence.

The silver-haired hunter couldn't help but blush, a bit; the whole thing seemed so uncharacteristically personal of the pureblood that even Zero felt a bit embarrassed. He looked back up at the aging vampire on the balcony, who was still waiting for the complete attention of the guests. To be able to make such a cold, hard, and pompous vampire turn so gushingly fond-this count must really be someone kind. And to actually care so deeply about someone other than himself-the pureblood must not be so horrid after all.

Finally gaining the undivided attention of the guests, the count began to speak. "This evening has surely been wonderful, but, as all good things must, it is coming to a close. However! We are not yet done. We still have one more dance! And for this last dance, all of you-even those who have not yet done so tonight-must take a partner, and dance! Or else, face the consequences! You have ten seconds-go!" He chuckled boyishly, watching as mayhem began to unfold.

Immediately, there was a rush of bodies as everyone scrambled to claim their dance partners. Zero glanced around at the maelstrom of vampires a bit nervous, unsure if he should join them. "Was he serious when he said 'consequences'?"

Kaname chuckled, leaning back on the wall behind him to view the spectacle before him. "Who knows?"

Just as it seemed all had finally quieted down, a voice boomed from above. "Kaname Kuran, did you think that you were exempted from this?" the count inquired, a good-natured smile apparent in his voice. "No, you must dance! How about that pretty lady beside you? She looks like she wants to dance with you. And you certainly look like you want to dance with her. Now, be a gentleman!"

There was a collective gasp from the crowd at the overt patronization of the might pureblood, apprehensive as they waited for the violent outburst that they were sure would follow.

Meanwhile, Zero looked around, utterly confused; there was absolutely no one around he and Kaname for a good fifty feet. He subconsciously glanced at the brunet for an explanation.

"I think," Kaname began pensively, "that he means you."

Zero balked, spluttering. "B-but I-I'm a guy! Obviously! I mean, I'm wearing a suit!" His jaw hung open in utter disbelief.

Kaname shrugged soundlessly. "Maybe your body was obscured from his angle, and he just saw your face."

"You mean to say that just my face isn't enough to tell that I'm a goddamn MAN?"

The brunet smirked at the outburst. "Well, whatever the case, we should try not to draw too much more attention to ourselves." He inclined his head and offered his hand to the hunter, a delicate eyebrow raised in the slightest mockery. "So shall we dance, madame?"

Zero could feel the still-apprehensive gaze of the crowd on his back. "Goddamnit." He brusquely grabbed the hand and pulled, automatically taking the leading position.

Kaname chuckled. "Now, now, a lady must let her partner take the lead." And, so quickly and smoothly that Zero didn't have time to react, Kaname had shifted the hunter's left and right hands to the pureblood's own shoulder and left hand, respectively, while shifting his own right hand to the small of Zero's back, pulling him in until their chests brushed each others'.

Unbeknownst to him, Zero's body fell against the pureblood's in perfect comfort. Where before he had been furious and indignant, he suddenly felt flustered at the sheer naturalness of their movements together. A now far-away part of his brain recognized the dance position. "I don't know the waltz," he mumbled, eyes cast sideways.

Zero could hear the deep rumble of silent laughter from the pureblood. "Then it's a good thing I'm leading, now, isn't it?" He chuckled again, out loud this time; he seemed to be in a mysteriously good mood this evening. "Just let me do all the work; you'll be fine."

The music began then, and Zero suddenly found himself floating across the dancefloor. He somehow completed dance step after foreign dance step, whispered dance instructions peppering his ear. Though their moves were not nearly as complex as the rest of the guests'-largely due to the incompetence of the follow-their own dance seemed, in its relative simplicity, far more elegant. Whenever Zero would stumble or trip, the pureblood would adjust his direction as if they had meant to move that way all along. They spun, Kaname's hips guiding Zero through it, ending up forehead to forehead, champagne eye gazing into lilac ones. Under normal circumstances, the Zero wouldn't have allowed the proximity, but it felt like if he did, some fragile, newly-created thing would shatter into pieces. As the song continued, their movements became less exaggerated, until their steps were only shuffles, the lead's hips still guiding the follow's and gazes still locked. Somewhere faint in the distance, Zero thought he heard the music crawl to a finish, but he couldn't be sure through his foggy mind. The two clasped hands that had been outstretched to their sides slowly dropped until their arms were relaxed but still intertwined.

"I, uh-" For whatever reason, Zero couldn't really think, much less formulate coherent sentences. He was pretty sure that the dance was over, so he should let go, right?

The brunet chuckled. "You're completely stiff."

Zero spluttered, backing away a fraction of a centimeter. Was he really- Oh. He realized what the pureblood had meant, as he attempted to shift his weight, only to find that every single joint in his body was cemented into position. He tried to nonchalantly loosen up, only to have his knees nearly give out. Scowling, he gave up the pursuit, deciding to stay where he was for the moment.

Kaname laughed at the slightly-comedic looking hunter. He raised an internal eyebrow at himself; for whatever reason he really was doing that more often these days-laughing. He focused once more on the hunter before him. There might just be a reason for the change. Focusing on the hunter's lilac orbs, he tilted his head further so their noses ghosted together, and paused, pensive. "I think-"

However, at that very moment, Kaname felt a finger tap on his shoulder. It was the odd usher from before. "Kuran-sama?" she began, not waiting for acknowledgment from the pureblood, "Count Montserrat Carlo-sama requests your and Kiryu-sama's immediate presence. It is urgent."


	7. Valediction

Oh my, my, my, has it been a long-ass time since I last updated. But I did it, finally! I hope that at least some of my original readers are still with me. :'( But new readers, I love you just as much, be assured! ;) As long as someone reads my story and enjoys it (and *tells* me that they enjoyed it :coughilikereviewscough:), I'll be happy. So yeah, I'm pretty terrible at updating, but now I've gotten to a part in the story that I'll enjoy writing a bit more, so I'm betting that (provided I have time, with school starting tomorrow and such) I'll be updating at least slightly more regularly. As always, thank you for everyone who has favorited, subscribed, and reviewed my story! You have no idea how much I appreciate you all! But I've blabbered enough; on with the story!

o0o0o0o

The girl in the olive dress tilted her head, waiting.

Kaname, his back half-turned to the girl, didn't turn to look at her, and instead focused his attention on a spot over Zero's shoulder. Vaguely, he noted and was mildly pleased by the fact that instead of pulling away, the hunter had dealt with his surprise at the girl's appearance by holding more tightly to Kaname's shoulder. A ruffling of fabric behind him, however, reminded him of the girl's continuing presence. "I believe I know where to find him. We shall escort ourselves, thank you."

Bowing politely, the girl turned and walked away.

Kaname scowled, somewhat unnerved. That girl—he'd seen her, what—only three times? And already, he abhorred her, though he couldn't say just why. Turning to Zero, he murmured, "Did you happen to get her name?"

Zero shook his head.

"Of course, of course," the pureblood murmured, somewhat distractedly. Even if she had told Zero her name, there wasn't any guarantee that it was her real one. Vaguely, he noticed that most all of the other guests to the party had already left, leaving them standing in a gapingly empty ballroom.

"Speaking of the girl, is she some distant relative of yours?"

Kaname raised his eyebrow at the uncharacteristic chattiness of the slightly shorter vampire. "I don't believe so, no. Why?"

Zero frowned, as if he were a bit perplexed at what he was about to say. "She just...looked a whole lot like, eh...you." As strange as it was, the hunter was sure of it. When he had seen her in the olive dress, she had seemed so utterly familiar, but he just hadn't been able to put his finger on just why. Upon seeing the pureblood, however, he had realized why: she and Kaname might have been twins.

"Did she, now? I didn't notice. It's possible we could be related, then." But he seriously doubted it. Something simply didn't strike him as right about the girl. He couldn't put it to words, but then again—when had his instincts ever led him astray? "Zero." He turned, placing his hand on the silver-haired vampire's shoulder, face suddenly serious. "Stay away from her."

Zero was frozen for a moment, surprised at the unexpected intensity radiating from the pureblood. He soon recovered, however, his face returning to its usual indifference and shoulders throwing off Kaname's hand with a careless shrug. Nevertheless, after a few more moments of being subjected to the brunet's chilling gaze, he relented and mumbled a reluctant, "Alright."

Satisfied, Kaname did an about-face and sauntered toward the set of stairs the girl had gone up, turning to Zero as he did so, motioning him to follow. When they had both reached the first landing he stopped, and waited for Zero to do the same. Keeping his eyes trained ahead, he whispered in a low, nearly inaudible voice, "Keep your hand near your Bloody Rose."

Zero raised his eyebrows, but didn't argue, only nodding his head. "I thought, though, that we were only visiting your old friend?"

Kaname pursed his lips, eyebrows knitting together to give his face a troubled cast. "It would be nice if things were ever that simple."

The silence morphed into nervous tension as the two continued up the stairs, stopping when they came to another landing, at its head a set of double doors. Kaname placed a finger on one of the doors, and both doors proceeded to swing open as if of their own accord.

It took a moment for Zero to find anything in the fog of predawn, but eventually his eyes came to rest upon a crouched figure in the center of the courtyard. Beside the crouched figure, her arms encircled around it, was the brunet usher who'd summoned Zero and Kaname. Zero stared at the crouched figure, trying to discern just who or what it was, when the figure suddenly lifted its head. However, its face was still obscured by a rather large and unseemly feathered hat... Zero's thoughts stopped in their tracks. The count. It was the count, and he seemed to be doubled over in apparent pain. Zero turned to Kaname, who had apparently realized the crouched figure's identity long before Zero had, and was standing, seemingly unperturbed, as he surveyed the situation.

The count, apparently realizing that he had company, turned his face up, his feathered hat falling to the ground in the process. It took every ounce of Zero's will not to take a horrified step back at the sight before him. The count's face—or rather, what should have been his face—looked like a single festering wound. It was so disfigured, it was hardly recognizable as something that had ever belonged to anything that walked on two legs—it looked as if it would better suit a beast that had wondered much too close to a fire. There was no hair, and what was presumably skin looked to be covered completely in swollen red boils, with a thick layer of serum oozing from every pore. His eyes were enflamed, bulging out to nearly twice the normal size, and dripped a constant stream of what Zero could only hope was water. The mouth was merely a lipless hole, and all that remained of the count's nose was a slightly raised bump in the middle of his face, nostrils fused completely shut. Looking down to the count's exposed hands, Zero could see that the unfortunate pattern continued, surmising that the count's entire body was likely covered in the same festering sores.

He blinked his running eyes a few times, then curved his mouth in what the count most likely meant to be a warm smile. "Kaname, I'm so happy that you came! I haven't seen you since you were just a boy, but what a fine young man you've grown into!" The count winced, his mouth dropping back into a neutral position. He slowly brought his hand up to touch the corners of his mouth, which had erupted into a stream of blood due to the flexing from the attempt at smiling. Careful to keep his face neutral, the count continued on. "As you can see, I'm a bit sick right now. But I have the most wonderful doctor! He says it won't be long until I get better—he's been a great deal of help to me, and I'd like you to meet him, Kaname. His kindness reminds me so much of yours."

As if on cue, a voice called out from a corner of the courtyard left still untouched by the early morning light. "He is quite right, that Monty is. You do remind me so much of myself."

Zero started; some foggy memory told him that he had heard this voice before. Looking beside him, he could tell that his companion was much more familiar with the voice. Though there was no change in the expression on Kaname's face, Zero could tell that the pureblood had clenched his jaw, in an attempt to subdue what seemed to be some unknown degree of vexation.

Kaname took a slow, controlled breath. "Rido." He spat out each syllable with contemptuous frigidity.

At the mention of his name, Rido stepped from the shadows, a toothy grin plastered to his face. He was dressed in a long black robe, spectacles upon his nose, and carried an old-fashioned briefcase; his costume gave the impression of a twisted and macabre early twentieth century doctor. "Now, now, Kaname," came his patronizing croon, "don't deny it. But more importantly, I think it's time that your lovely companion and I finally become acquainted." He turned his head to meet Zero's eyes. "I do believe that we've met once before-in a sewer, if I remember correctly...? You seemed quite tired at the time, so I won't be upset if you don't remember me."

The hunter scowled in surprise; he hadn't expected to be acknowledged by this 'Rido'. But now that recalled his time in the sewer fighting the Level Es, that foggy memory he'd recalled when Rido first spoke became sharper. "You were...that E from the sewer?"

Rido's grin widened. "And even your voice is lovely! You will make quite a wonderful addition." He made an exaggerated show of cupping his hands around his mouth and leaned forward from where he stood like he was telling a secret. "Just between you and me, I'm so glad that you remembered, because I was joking when I said that I wouldn't be upset." He gave a maniacal cackle. "But back to the matter at hand-I don't believe that I've ever had the pleasure of being properly introduced to you. I am Rido Kuran, uncle to the tall brunet beside you. Ecstatic to finally make your acquaintance." Rido bowed his head in greeting.

Zero's brows furrowed in confusion-he had been under the impression that Kaname was the only surviving member of the Kuran clan. But, looking from one Kuran to the supposed other, the hunter realized that, aside from their eyes, the two could just as well have been twins, something he supposed he hadn't realized before because of the villainous miasma Rido seemed to carry. Perhaps he shouldn't introduce himself after all...

Sensing Zero's reluctance, Rido made so as to walk towards the silver-haired hunter. However, before Rido could reach Zero, Kaname, who had remained immobile throughout the entire encounter, took, with what appeared to be a tremendous amount of effort, a quick step to intercept Rido.

Rido growled, visibly irritated at being interrupted. "A dog should remain," he hissed through clenched teeth, "out of its master's way." He narrowed his eyes, pointedly staring into Kaname's eyes. At this, a quake coursed through Kaname's entire body. He clenched his fists as a hiss of air escaped his lips. Nevertheless, with an even greater amount of effort than taking the step had required, Kaname lifted his hands and placed them on Rido's chest.

"He's trash," Kaname murmured. He shut his eyes and turned his head to the side, tucking his chin into his shoulder in a startlingly submissive gesture. "He's just some talentless, nobody hunter."

Rido raised his eyebrows at this remark. "Oh, really? Then just why were you two working as a team in that sewer? And why did you arrive at this party together?"

"We are partnered. Inescapably so-it was that or risk the peace between humans and vampires. It was the result of an imbecilic policy initiated by the Hunters' Association-if I had voiced my concerns, I would have been viewed as antagonistic."

Rido sneered, considering the other pureblood's claims. "Well, I do know how you so love that 'peace' of which you always speak." He glanced back at Zero once more.

At this point, Zero was doing his utmost to become invisible; he had absolutely no idea what was going on or even who Rido Kuran truly was. But to be honest, the most unsettling thing was the yielding and acquiescent manner that Kaname had taken. Plus, though he knew that the burgundy-eyed pureblood did not exactly hold the hunter in the highest of esteem (the feeling was returned tenfold, undoubtedly), neither had ever admonished the other quite so...bluntly.

Face layered with exaggerated disappointment, Rido's eyes finally left Zero. "And I was so sure that he was-" he shook his head. "Ah well, it can't be helped. But what can be helped: my thirst. I was prepared to partake in a delicious drink, but I suppose you'll suffice," Rido declared, looking down at Kaname. "I can trust that you'll cooperate this time?"

Of course not, Zero scoffed.

"Of course," Kaname murmured.

Rido's sneer returned to his face. "Good, you're finally learning. I can release my hold on you, then." Immediately after Rido said this, Kaname's body slumped a bit, seemingly freed from the invisible strings that had previously been holding him taut.

Zero waited for some cue from Kaname-something to tell him that Kaname was going to fight back. However, no cue came. Zero could only watch, aghast, as the pureblood he had always know as "that pretentious bastard" tilted his head to expose his bare throat in complete submission.

Rido, sneer ever-widening, bared his fangs and ripped unceremoniously into the exposed flesh of Kaname's neck. He sucked in quick, violent gulps that jerked Kaname's shoulders with their relentless force.

Each gulp made Zero more and more disgusted, until he felt as if he might actually become physically ill. He averted his eyes, but could still hear each wet mouthful Rido took. The scene before him was so incredibly, indescribably wrong.

Mercifully, Rido finally finished, so engorged that he didn't even bother to stem the flow of blood coming from the bite marks. "Ah..." He let out a satisfied sigh as he released his the arm that had been supporting Kaname. Without the support, the burgundy-eyed pureblood immediately dropped to the floor. "...truly delicious."

Seeing only now how much blood Rido had drained, Zero, without thinking, took a step forward, snarling with brazen ferocity, "I'll end you, fucker."

For a fraction of a second, Rido looked genuinely taken aback, though he quickly recomposed himself into what Zero now figured was Rido's customary superior sneer. "My, my, what a temper you have for "just some talentless, nobody hunter", if," Rido turned his gaze to the slouching Kuran in front of him, "I'm recalling your wording correctly, dearest and most precious nephew." The monstrous pureblood now put on a melodramatic pout. "I...certainly hope you weren't...lying to me, now, Kaname. You know how I hate liars."

The count watched the exchange with unfocused eyes, apparently too ill to notice anything other than that the other vampires had had some sort of a conversation. "So we're all acquainted now-that's great! When I get better, we can all have a nice long chat over some blood tea. I know how you love your blood tea, Kaname." The elderly man drifted off into a contented silence, playing out in his mind what he viewed to be the most pleasant scenario anyone could ever imagine.

Turning his attention to the delirious count, Rido regarded him with a lazily amused expression. "I'd forgotten about our most gracious host." He looked to Kaname once again. "I'm sure you're dying to lean just what is afflicting your poor old father figure."

At this, Kaname's head immediately snapped up. Though his back trembled with the sudden burden of holding his body fully erect, his eyes showed no trace of this struggle.

"Well," Rido responded, face falling into an overly-dramatic troubled look, "you've been a bit of a bad pet, recently. You don't come when I call, you don't follow my orders, and it makes me so, so sad Kaname. But it's not just that-you've been, shall we say, a rebel your entire life. It gets tiresome, but I can handle it. But what I can't handle is when you start to destroy my well-laid plans." With this, Rido's face lost all playfulness and took on a look of cold and unyielding menace. "You destroyed one of my lairs of Es. I assumed it was a mistake-that you didn't know that the affairs in which you were meddling were mine. But lately, you've been making visits, searching for books, conducting experiments. To put it simply, you've been asking questions. Questions that you should, under no circumstances, be asking. So," Rido had now returned to his sadistic grin, "I thought I'd teach you a lesson. And this," he pointed to the count, "seemed the simplest way to do it."

"You," snarled Kaname, having suddenly lost all pretenses-or, at least, Zero hoped they had been pretenses-of submission. "What have you done to him?"

"Oh, my dear boy, they've done nothing but help me!" the count suddenly declared. Miraculously, it seemed that he had somehow managed to catch this snippet of information through his clouded mind. "They-this brilliant doctor and his nurse,they were the ones saving me! Saving me, from someone who...who...poisoned me! They've been giving me antidotes every night...at first I told them that I felt fine and that it wasn't possible to poison a vampire, but they told me...they told me...that Kaname...that my dearest boy...had discovered that there actually was a poison that could hurt vampires and had also discovered the cure..." The count had apparently slipped back into delirium.

Kaname was seething, and it seemed now that he was straining against what Zero assumed was whatever invisible bonds Rido seemed to be able to place around Kaname at will. "Impossible," Kaname spat towards Rido, "that's absolutely impossible. There is, and never will be, any kind of illness or poison that could afflict a vampire."

Rido's grin stretched even farther. "Of course not. But that's what we told him, and that's what he believed, bless his poor, gullible heart."

"...and that's why," the count suddenly continued, as if there had been no break in his narrative, apparently oblivious to the others' remarks, "...that's why you had been gone so long, they said."

At this, all fury went out of Kaname's face, to be replaced with a panicky despair. "No, I..."

The count continued. "...why you had never written, why you had never visited, was because you were working on the antidote, and they had it! They said they had the cure you made, that you sent them...so of course I knew that since you sent them, I could trust them!" The count's eyes went unfocused again, and it seemed that he had said all he'd felt was necessary.

Rido once again trained his eyes on his nephew. "Well there you have it," he sneered. "And straight from the horse's mouth, too. We were just trying to help him, and on your own orders, no less. Every night, causing him to go unconscious, then burning him bit-by-bit, then making small incisions with a dagger steeped in anti-vampire magic to prevent him from healing. Helping. We were just helping." Sadistic joy seeped from Rido's every pore.

Fury fully returned, Kaname spat out a single word through clenched teeth. "Why?"

Rido's brows creased in mock confusion. "Why, you ask? "Why" what? Why punish you like this? But, precious nephew, I've told you this already: you've been a naughty, naughty pet and haven't behaved as per your master's wishes. Or, perhaps you want to know why I went through all this trouble, why I involved an innocent old vampire? Well, dearie, to put it quite simply, it was fun." On the last word, his face broke into a sneer that showcased the full lengths of his gleaming fangs. "But it's about time our fun came to an end. Kameko, bring our host to me."

The girl in the olive dress inclined her head respectfully and, taking the count under his arms, dragged him until he was but a foot in front of Rido. She positioned him so he was resting on his knees, barely able to support himself. The count's face pointed upwards, eyes creased in a warm smile.

Then, unceremoniously and without warning, Rido raised his arm and brought it down across kneeling vampire's neck. The count's body jerked violently, as his head flew from his body and the kind old vampire, Count Montserrat Cristo, the only semblance of family Kaname had left in the world, crumbled and turned to ash.

Kaname let out a bloodcurdling scream. He strained now with a berserker's rage against whatever invisible bonds held him. As he did so, long, paper-thin cuts appeared one-by-one on his body, blood pouring from the wounds like water. In but a few seconds, every bit of skin was completely covered in his own blood.

Zero, previously frozen by uncertainty and confusion, was now staggered back a few steps, mind brought back to reality by the shock of hearing possibly the proudest and most dignified vampire he knew scream Bloody Mary. Zero had no idea what to do. If Kaname's monstrous uncle could restrain a pureblood with a mere glance, what could he do to a borderline Level E? What if Zero fell under whatever spell Rido had cast over Kaname? Then there would be absolutely no chance of escape, and no one would ever know what had happened to them. Not only that, but he was outnumbered two-to-one; he'd almost forgotten about Rido's creepy little vampire minion...'Kameko', Rido'd called her? He'd only have time to shoot one before the other was on him. No, Zero had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Now, now, dearest Kaname," crooned Rido, after delightedly watching his nephew for a few minutes, "let's not bloody ourselves up too much."

Kaname continued to struggle, but soon collapsed to the ground, rage having faded to a dark despair, and every last bit of strength sapped from him.

Rido grinned. "I see I've finally broken the stallion's spirit. I'll be taking you with me, now-not that I think you'll act up after this," he motioned his hand at the now-scattered ashes of the count, "but because I'll be needing to utilizecertain assets of yours. Plus, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, you know?" Rido suddenly turned his attention to Zero, a leering grin plastered across his face. "However, twobirds in the hand-that's worth quite a bit more, wouldn't you agree, hunter?"

Zero suddenly couldn't find it in himself to take a breath. The sneering pureblood seemed to be waiting for a response, however, so Zero gulped and obliged. "A-and, uh, what exactly, uh, would...you mean...by that?"

Rido made a show of laughing. "Silly boy, I mean you! Kaname said you were talentless, but see, a talentless hunter doesn't hold a gun with such comfortable assurance." Rido motioned to the Bloody Rose that hung at Zero's side. "You're scared, I can see, but you still have a brazen air about you. I notice these things, see? It's how I am so good at what I do." He gave a smile that was anything but comforting. "Not to mention, a talentless hunter wouldn't have lasted as long as I'm betting you have. And," he rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner, "I'm betting you aren't a nobody, either. Even the Association, as foolish as they are, aren't foolish enough to place a "nobody" with the acting head of the Vampire Council. No, they'd place a very prominent figure from the Association-someone with comparable status. I know you are not Touga Yagari. Though you do quite remind me of him. Both fiery, both determined. Perhaps only a coincidence? Or perhaps not? Maybe you were close to him. His progeny, perhaps? But you look nothing like him. His disciple, then?" Rido paused, scrutinizing Zero further, then shook his head dismissively. "No matter. We shall have plenty of time to figure this out when we return to my lair. I felt, the instant we met, that there was something that set you apart - something powerful, something in your blood. So, little bird. Won't you come here?" Rido's casual tone belied the threat in his eyes.

Beginning to slip into a state of complete panic, Zero's finger snaked more closely around the trigger of his Bloody Rose, his wrist tilting upwards. If they were going to kill him or take him or whatever they planned to do with him, he would take down one of them first.

Rido grinned. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Shoot at either Kameko or I, and we'll have dodged the bullet and ripped your throat out before you can say, "Oops."."

So direct aggression definitely wasn't going to work. His hunter's training kicking in, he quickly searched the courtyard for options. About twenty feet in front of him was the edge of the courtyard, and ostensibly also the edge of the roof. The drop was at minimum fifty feet, but he'd gladly risk it if it meant escaping this situation. But he'd need some distraction, and shooting either Rido or Kameko was out of the question. Another option was to shoot Kaname, which might provide some semblance of a distraction, but probably not much of one, and besides, shooting Kaname in his seriously weakened state might permanently damage him-not to mention the fact that Zero really just couldn't bring himself to shoot him. No, shooting someone was not the answer. But maybe he could shoot something? He quickly rescanned the courtyard. Something caught his eye and his jerked upwards to follow it. Stretching to cover the entire courtyard was a massive glass ceiling with small lightbulbs dotting it in some sort of patterned interval. Zero figured that at night the lights were supposed to show some constellation, or something. It didn't matter; all Zero knew was that the old count's extravagant decoration was about to hopefully save his life. The courtyard was surrounded on three sides by walls, and the glass ceiling was suspended by supports between the two opposing walls. The two supports were made out some sort of clear polymer that Zero hoped would snap if he shot in the right place. He was an exceptional marksman, but his fate relied purely on physics now.

Rido scowled; Zero had been focused on the ceiling for too long. "What are y-"

It was now or never. Zero raised his hand, aimed, and shot.

Hearing a loud crack, Zero thanked the gods that the support had broken, but in nearly the same instant, Zero was cursing the gods, because the glass ceiling had broken over his head-a repercussion he hadn't really thought about-and a large shard of glass had apparently ricocheted and firmly embedded itself in his right knee. But ignoring his pain, Zero looked ahead to see Rido and Kameko, both of whom hadn't anticipated the blow, staggering, stunned. Zero momentarily considered shooting Rido, but he knew that the shot wouldn't be lethal, and would probably just serve to enrage him and his female sidekick further, decreasing his odds of escaping from this situation alive that much more. So instead, Zero ran as fast as he could towards Kaname, who, oddly enough, was in the exact same position and posture in which he'd been before, though he did have quite a few shards of glass embedded in his body. Kaname wasn't too far from the wall-less edge of the courtyard, so Zero, speeding up into a dead sprint, body-slammed Kaname with all his might, intending to send the two careening over the edge and hopefully allowing them to make a break for it. However, Kaname didn't budge even a centimeter, and Zero's breath was knocked completely out of him.

Zero began trying to push Kaname towards the ledge, grunting with the effort but still making no headway. Kaname wasn't responding at all, and his eyes, though open, looked completely lifeless. He wasn't dead, Zero could tell, but he seemed completely...broken, or something. But Zero continued to push, more frantic by the second; they had to get out of there before Rido became fully sentient again. He pushed and he pushed, and then...he was finally making headway! Zero realized that it must have been Rido's invisible bonds that were still holding Kaname. If he did manage to get them both over the ledge, he knew he couldn't carry Kaname and still have the speed to get away, but maybe if he just got him far away enough from Rido...or maybe the jolt of the fall...maybe somehow Kaname could regain full consciousness and run on his own. But suddenly, Zero realized that he was making less and less headway with Kaname; Rido's invisible bonds were getting stronger again. Panicked, Zero turned around, and sure enough, Rido was staggering to his feet, seemingly trying to get his bearings. Zero's eyes widened in terror; if he didn't run now, he'd have no chance of getting away. He jumped up and ran the remaining distance to the ledge, but he turned, to give a last look at Kaname, torn; he just didn't... But with his peripheral view of Rido steady on his feet, Zero's body made the decision for him.

He jumped.


End file.
